The Murray County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. Vice Chair Dennis Welgraven presided in the absence of Commissioner Molly Malone. Commissioner Jim Kluis was also absent from the meeting.
Auditor Treasurer Heidi Winter presented the Commissioners Warrants and the Ditch Repair Bills for consideration. The Ditch Bills included on to Noomen Excavating in the amount of $132,787.98 for work completed on County Ditch 22. Total cost of that project is $377,521.52. Two donations of $50 each were accepted from MN Prairie Saddle Club Ass’n and Buffalo Ridge Riders for additional sand in the Fairgrounds Horse Arena. The 4-H Clubs will be reimbursing any additional cost for the sand.
Ditch Inspector Travis Radke presented a lengthy list of repair petitions that included Judicial Ditch 14, Leeds Township, Sections 3 and 11, Judicial Ditch 22, Holly Township, Section 24, County Ditch 19, Dovray Township, Section 14 and Judicial Ditch 3, Holly Township, Section 26.
County Highway Engineer Randy Groves was present for the opening of bids for replacement of a bridge located south and east of Currie in Murray Township. The low bid came from M & K Bridge Construction Co. in the amount of $488,552.69. The construction contract with Prahm Construction for the replacement of the bridge in Currie was signed. Work on that project is expected to begin in early November and be completed in June 2023. The LBRP grant agreement for the replacement of that bridge was approved with a local share of $90,670.77. The federal share will be $1,215,839.08. A mutual aid agreement was approved with Nobles County to allow sharing of engineering staff if time permits. Such agreements already exist with Lyon and Pipestone Counties.
Parks Director Justin Hoffmann was present to open bids for the rental of two fairgrounds buildings, the Creative Arts and the South Commercial Building. The sole bid came from Shetek Marine at $1100 and $1500 each year of the two year contract.
Slayton City Administrator Josh Malchow appeared before the Board to discuss the DEED Fiber Grant Award. The grant award of $2,576,446 will allow installation to provide fiber network to homes west of Maple Avenue and to an area south and west of the City of Slayton. There is no city or county match required of the grant.
The Board also approved funding of $5000K of ARPA funds and an additional $240,666 of County funds for a fiber network encompassing residents of Lake Sarah and surrounding area and extending to the western edges of Lake Shetek. Although a small area, it was described as, “ A good place to start”, as an underserved population. It is hoped that additional grant funds will be available to expand the service area.
In personnel decisions, Nicholas Feit, was approved for the position of Deputy Sheriff pending successful completion of background testing.
