July 15 meeting
The Murray County Board of Commissioners met on July 15 in regular session. The meeting closed for a time under a MN statute allowing Attorney-Client privilege. On reopening the meeting it was announced that an agreement had been reached in regard to the County Ditch11/Highway 30 litigation. Murray County Ditch 11 had paid $68,119.22 when the tile under the highway failed in June 2017 leaving a large void. MN DOT had costs of $83,897.67 for repair of the roadway and redirection of the drainage ditch. Appeal costs since that time have amounted to $46,337.45.
A Joint Powers Agreement was signed that will allow for the expansion of the Red Rock Rural Water System. The City of Avoca will be connected along with approximately 350 residences around Lake Shetek and Lake Sarah. The first phase will connect people on Lake Sarah and on Pommier Lane on Lake Shetek. In the fall of 2025 a new water treatment plant south of Dovray will connect to the Lake Shetek area.
The third phase will connect approximately 300 residences. The total cost of the project is $16M, all to be spent in Murray County. Murray County will be one of the nine counties guaranteeing payment of the purchase of $8M in General Obligation Bonds to fund the construction. Murray County has 154 miles served and is 9.5% of the system.
Approval was given for a DesMoines River Watershed SSTS Incentive Program loan.
Chris and Brooke Lynn Halbur will receive $5000 towards the replacement of a failing septic system within the shoreline on their property in Section 2, Slayton Township.
Highway Engineer Randy Groves provided the costs of Architectural and Engineering.
Services for Phase II of the new highway department building at $143,165, an amount considerably under a previous proposal. The second phase of the project will include: salt shed, two cold storage (unheated) buildings, a fuel island and a larger generator.
A Joint Meeting by interactive video was held with the Lyon County Board of Commissioners. Petitions have been submitted by Ducks Unlimited and MN DNR to partially abandon the system and to reroute the tile. The Lyon County Board requested time to review the petitions by their engineer.
July 22 meeting
The Murray County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on July 22, 2025 with a short agenda. The Sons of the American Legion Squadron 322 were acknowledged for a raffle to be held November 29.
An amended newspaper publication bid was needed. The Murray County Wheel-Herald, the Fulda Free Press, the Murray County Advantage and the Murray County News had previously held a joint bid. With the Murray County Wheel-Herald as the only remaining paper being published as of July 15th, it was necessary to award the bid for all legal publications to that paper.
Zoning Administrator Jean Christoffels informed the Board the 2016 Ordinance for Licensing & Sale of Tobacco and Related Products will need to be updated to reflect the changes in State laws.
The final payment for the box culvert replacement on CSAH 42 needed to be approved in the amount of $27,543.41 Emergency Management Director Carl Nyquist asked for the replacement of four CACHE radios that are no longer supported at a cost of $10,370.80. This is a budgeted item with the phones replaced on a rotating basis.
Sharon Giese, the new Human Resources Director, informed the Board that Renee Gleason has been hired as General Assistant at $24.88 hr beginning August 1.
The Board then recessed to tour County-owned buildings in Slayton.
