State Representative Bjorn Olson made a surprise visit to the Faribault County Commissioners meeting last Tuesday to discuss an issue with a State payment being made to Faribault County for building a road that was meant to go to the city of Blue Earth for a project in the West Industrial Park.

The subject of a falling down building in the city of Elmore was once again on the agenda when the members of the County Board met for their regular meeting on Tuesday, July 21.

At their last meeting, the board directed county attorney Cameron Davis to initiate an Action to Quiet Title for the property located at 101 East Willis Street in Elmore. That action was deemed the best route to go since it appeared the business named on the deed for the property did not exist.

After doing more extensive research, county attorney Cameron Anderson said that the business, Entrepreneur Dream Team LLC is registered in Georgia although their business address is located in Virginia.

“I don’t believe we would be successful in the Quiet Title action,” Davis said. “Because they are a legitimate business. I do not believe the city or county will be in a position to do anything about the falling building.”

Based on what he has found, Davis asked the board for a motion directing him to ask for dismissal without prejudice in the Quiet Title action, which the board did.

County coordinator Brian Hov told the board contact has been made with the owner and the owner is scheduled to visit the property later in the week.

“It appears to me the city would have to go through condemnation proceedings if they want to do anything about it,” commissioner Tom Loveall concluded.

Minnesota Representative Bjorn Olson stopped by the meeting to check in with the commissioners and also to address a problem with some funds that were supposed to go to the city of Blue Earth but instead got earmarked for Faribault County.

“It happened during the appropriation process,” Olson explained. “It is for a road project out in the West Industrial Park. The proposed new road ties into a county road and I think that is where the mistake was made.”

Olson said one option to fix the problem was to wait until the legislative session next year when it is routine to make corrections in appropriations.

Another option was to handle things locally through cooperation between the city and the county through a Joint Powers Agreement.

“We can do that,” Public Works supervisor/engineer April Wellman agreed. “My main concern is that things are documented properly.”

Blue Earth city engineer Ben Rosol was also at the meeting and told the board that the road in question, Industrial Drive, will be extended to the west.

“It will be a dead-end cul de sac,” Rosol stated.

The board approved going ahead with the agreement contingent on approval of the documents by Wellman and Rosol.

According to Tim Stoner of Blue Earth Light and Water, the new road will lead to a proposed new data center and a site operated by Talus Ag.

“To our knowledge, the proposed data center will be air-cooled,” Stoner said. “So there will not be heavy water usage.”

While on the subject of data centers, Stoner was asked about the noise produced by the data center located near Cabin Coffee, which has supposedly made it hard for people to order through the drive-up speaker.

“The decibel number is within Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) standards,” Stoner stated. “However, even though they would not have to, the owners of the data center have agreed to put up a wall to improve the situation.”

While at the meeting Wellman also took time to provide the board with a construction update.

“Crews began working on the bridge on County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 2 east of Kiester on July 20,” Wellman commented. “They hope to have it completed by mid-August. After that bridge work is completed they will move to the one on CSAH 8 west of Highway 169.”

Wellman said the seal coating should be done in the county by the end of the week with the striping on those roads scheduled for September.

Wellman was also asked about the location of campaign signs along county roads.

“They are not supposed to be in the right-of-way,” she said.

Wellman concluded her report with an update on the Ford electric pickup the Highway Department has been using.

“It works well and drives nice,” Wellman remarked. “We average about 260 miles on a charge although the battery life is not as good in cold weather. It stays in our shop overnight because that is where the charger is.”

County auditor/treasurer Chuck Schrader stopped by the meeting to tell the commissioners that the public testing of the voting machines went well.

“Just a reminder that early voting for the Aug. 11 primary election begins July 24 at courthouse,” Schrader said.

Schrader also told the board the county has received their first revenue from the Local Option Sales Tax.

“We received a net of $57,000 after a one time set-up fee of $14,000 was subtracted from the total,” Schrader commented. “That was for one month.”

According to Wellman, the revenue from this tax must be used for reconstruction of roads and bridges.

Sheriff Scott Adams was also at the meeting to get approval for Faribault County to house some out-of-state inmates.

“We have been contacted by officials from Polk County, Iowa, about housing some of their inmates,” Adams told the County Board at their meeting on July 21. “This would be a temporary situation, probably through the fall.”

Adams said he didn’t know the reason that Polk County, which is the home to the cities of Des Moines, West Des Moines and Ankeny, is needing to find a space for some of their inmates.

“Maybe they are remodeling their facilities,” Adams commented. “I just know they reached out to our county and Freeborn County to see if we could help.”

Adams explained that the daily charge for the inmates coming from Iowa would be $75 per day. Any extra medical costs or special needs costs would be paid by Polk County. “We told them we could handle about 10 prisoners,” Adams stated.

The board voted to approve a memorandum of understanding to house out-of-state prisoners from Polk County, pursuant to Minnesota Statute 641.035, consistent with prisoner housing policies for neighboring states.

Sentence to Serve (STS) representatives Jason Casias and Eli Redenius were at the meeting to give the commissioners a brief update on the STS program.

“We have been busy helping get things ready for the Faribault County Fair,” Redenius said. “The Fair Board is happy to have STS back this year.”

Casias told the board the average crew size has been 2-4 people.

“We have been working with Martin County when we need more help,” Casias added.

“I fully support the STS program,” county attorney Cameron Davis commented. “I expect there will be more members involved in the future.”

In other business, the board:

• Approved the request of Amy Salinas of the license bureau to attend the Minnesota Deputy Registrar’s Association conference.

• Approved the request of county recorder Kelly Hendrickson to attend passport services training.

• Approved the requests of Brady Rauenhorst and Kara Bendickson of the assessor’s office to attend the Vanguard User Group Training.

• Approved the request of Jordon Paukert of the Sheriff’s Department to attend Impact Munitions Instructor Training.

• Approved the request of Vincent Do of the Sheriff’s Department to attend the Glock Armorer Training Course and the Law Enforcement Labor Services Annual Training.

• Approved Tammy Olsen of the Assessor’s Office to attend the 2026 MAAP (Minnesota Association of Assessment Personnel) Summer Workshop.

• Scheduled budget work sessions for Aug. 18 at 1 p.m. and Aug. 19 at 11 a.m.

• Heard from Tony O’Donnell, vice commander for American Legion second district, about the second annual fundraiser being held Aug. 28-29. The funds will be given to the Bean and Bear Project which aims to provide de-escalation tool kits to police departments, fire departments and first responders. The kits are geared toward individuals with autism and sensory processing disorders.