The Murray County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, March 26th. Ditch Inspector Travis Radke had long list of repair petitions to bring before the Board. Of main importance were the petitions for repair of JD20 and CD14 in the area that the two join. An engineer has estimated a combined cost of $334,000 to complete the repairs. The Board suggested discussions with petitioners and other landowners on the direction they would like taken on the project.
One bid was received for an addition to the fairgrounds Bingo stand to be used as the beer garden and storage. The exceeded the estimate by nearly $30,000. Fairgrounds Manager Justin Hoffmann will review his budget to see if changes can be made to allow for the extra costs. Another parks project, a new picnic shelter in East Lake Sarah Park also came in over $18,000 of the budget.
Members of the Fair Board provided an update of the 2024 events scheduled. New in 2024 will be a group of bagpipers, a forger making knives, Concord Singers from New Ulm, lawn mower racing and Paintball.
Elizabeth Hoffman, Plum Creek Library Director, presented the annual report. This will be the 50th Anniversary with focus on improving broadband access and restoring services cut during budget shortages. Plum Creek provides service to 26 libraries and 12 school libraries. The Bookmobile runs 1000 miles each week. Murray County pays $3,250 a year as its share of the budget.
Sheriff Heath Landsman provided his annual update of the Buffalo Ridge Drug Task Force funding request. Based on $4.50 per capita, Murray County’s share is $36,805.50. Pipestone and Lincoln Counties are a part of the group with the same per capita. Murray County provides two officers, a general investigator and administration support.
A grant has been approved by the Southwest Private Industry Council to provide one intern to the Murray County Sheriff Department at 29 hrs week for 12 weeks this summer. The intern has completed one year of law enforcement course work.
