Todd County Transfer Station hours reduced

If you use the Todd County Solid Waste Transfer Station on Saturdays, you might want to check your calendar before you go.

During their regular meeting on Dec. 7, the Todd County Commissioners decided to reduce the hours  of the transfer station to one Saturday per month December through March, starting in January 2017. 

The designated day the transfer station will be open will be the first Saturday of the month from 8 a.m. until noon.

The solid waste department has been working to find ways to control costs and cutting the Saturday hours was one way.

Saturday hours will resume to every Saturday in April through November.

Transfer Station Supervisor Jeremy Clasemann said this will save money as we’re paying two people overtime each Saturday to have it open.

Bridge list

The commissioners approved the 2017 bridge priority replacement list.

County Engineer Loren Fellbaum said that the bridges listed are either structurally deficient or are a high priority for removal and replacement within the immediate future.

“State support for the replacement of bridges continues to be crucial to maintaining the integrity of the local road system and is a necessary funding source for the county, townships and municipalities to proceed with replacements of the bridges on the attached list,” noted Fellbaum.

Todd County will replace the bridges as soon as either state transportation bond funds or state townbridge funds become available.

Transportation plan

The board approved the 2021 Area Transportation Improvement Plan nomination of County State Aid Highway 12.

Fellbaum said that the funding for this project must be project specific and meet eligibility guidelines and qualifying criteria.

The project would include the parts of CSAH 12 from Highway 287 to Highway 28 and would be a bituminous mill and overlay project with aggregate shouldering.

Commissioner David Kircher said that they have talked about this and another road near Staples at the Lakewood Health System Hospital and wondered if this project - which will go past the new Long Prairie Hospital once completed - could be moved up on the plan?

Fellbaum said that they could move it up, but he feels that they would have a better chance of getting the project approved if they wait.

“The road condition is not fail ing, but it is getting to the point that it needs to be addressed,” said Fellbaum.

Kircher said that when the new hospital opens it will get a lot more traffic, at least on a portion of it.

Property sale

The board rejected a bid for the sale of county owned parcels including the Impound Lot and Sentenced to Service Wood Sale Lot.

Todd County was approached by Long Prairie Packing Company, LLC to consider selling the two county owned parcels.

The county compiled a $277,183 cost estimate to provide for full replacement of these lots and publicly advertised to accept bids for these parcels with a minimum bid requirement that equaled or exceeded the replacement cost of these parcels.

A sealed bid of $277,185 was received from Henry Street Properties, LLC on Nov. 8, which contained additional documents (Purchase Agreement Addendum and Lease Agreement) that have caused the bid to be considered incomplete.

Fellbaum will now work on re-advertising with changes. The bid included a lease agreement which nullified the bid. The lease agreement was a kind of protection agreement for the packing plant because the county will continue to use the parcels for a period of time - about Dec. 31, 2017.

The new bid specs will include the lease agreement and the purchase agreement addendum.

Fellbaum said that by the above date the county should have their new parcels ready from the city of Long Prairie.

Auditor/Treasurer Denise Gaida said that she had spoken with Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust in regard to the insurance issue and they are okay with the agreement.

The county will be leasing back the parcels at no cost to the county.

Ditch maintenance fund

The continuation of the County Ditch 19 maintenance fund was approved.

According to Ditch Inspector Nancy Uhlenkamp, the Ditch 19 Maintenance Fund was established in 1991 and was set at $1 per benefited acre. This fund was in effect for tax payable years 1991-1996.

“In 1997 the amount was increased to $3 per benefited acre and that’s the current amount per benefited acre. This has been renewed every five years,” said Uhlenkamp.

Tax payable year 2016 was the end of the most recent maintenance fund agreement.

“In the past we have held a public hearing to renew the fund every five years. After discussions with ditch inspectors in other counties and Kurt Deter, Ditch Attorney, we’ve been informed it’s not necessary to incur the expense of a public hearing to continue the maintenance fund on a yearly basis. 

“The ditch authority can approve the continuation of the fund by resolution at a regular board meeting with no need for a three-week public notice or letter to the landowners on the County Ditch 19 assessment roll,” she explained in a letter to the board.

This will be brought to the ditch authority on a yearly basis for approval of its continuation at the existing $4,410 per year.

The cost to hold a public hearing is approximately $1,000.

Kircher said that this fund was very beneficial because if there was maintenance to be done, the money was there to do it.

In other business the board:

o Accepted the 2016 Federal Boat and Water Safety grant in the amount of $4,100 to purchase one sonar device, one pair of binoculars, one boat prop and one boat cover.

o Approved a correction to the corrected plat for Michael’s Subdivision. The adopted plat correction contained an error in the location of the point of commencement. This correction will bring the plat up to date.

o Approved the final plat of “Camacho Addition” subdivision.

o Adopted the 2017 Planning and Zoning Fee Schedule. The fees were not changed from last year.

o Rescinded the action to hire Mike Becker for the Wetlands Conservation Coordinator position.Becker no longer wishes to take the position because the family healthcare plan that must be purchased through the county is not affordable. 

Soil and Water Conservation District Director Tim Stieber said that they have had three applicants decline offers since July because of the healthcare.

They will be interviewing three from the pool of previous applicants to attempt to fill the position.

o Approved the request to advertise for a used vehicle for SWCD. The board agreed that they should combine their 2016 and 2017 amounts saved for this and get a better used vehicle.

o Approved the rollover of the 2016 sign truck purchase expense to 2017 as the truck utilities are not ready yet and won’t be ready until January of 2017.

According to Fellbaum, the truck and chassis has been purchased.