By Joanne Bergman The Murray County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, March 04, 2025 with all five members of the board present. The first item of business brought forward by Auditor Treasurer Heidi Winter was the 2025 renewal of 3.2 Malt Liquor and Seasonal Liquor licenses. All of those were approved. The Gambling Permit Applications of the Currie Town & Country at the Fulda Town & Country Golf Club were approved. These will allow gambling and bingo to take place on three dates in March, the 14, 21 and 28th.
The purchase price of the Polaris Ranger for the Parks Department was amended from $19,935 to $22,935 to adjust for not trading in the old equipment. An online sale of the unit brought much more than the trade in allowance.
The County Ditch 28 Abandonment Hearing was held with Ditch Inspector Travis Radke present. The system is located in the East half of the NW part of Section 16, Murray Township. The last petition for repair of the system was in 1953 with no work done at that time. There are no private tile line connections. It has been determined that no additional acres of cropland will be created with the repair and continued use of the system. The remaining funds of $5,919.52 will be used to pay the costs of the abandonment. There were no objections made and action was taken for approval.
Murray County Medical Center CEO Luke Schryvers presented his monthly report to the Commissioners. January started off busy with most departments seeing higher numbers. Surgery procedures were double of last January. Clinic visits were up to 901, up 265 from one year ago. Currently cash available is $9,945,009 with a positive net income for January of $72,556.
Ambulance Director Jennifer Kirchner will be honored by the MN Ambulance Association as a 2025 Star of Life Honoree. The state’s highest recognition recognizes EMA professions who go above and beyond in delivering life-saving care, mentoring the next generation and strengthening the EMS system. Billings for the 2024 and 2025 ambulance funding requests were approved. Each township is billed at $35 per section with cities billed at $10 per capita. The funds raised are held for the future purchase of an ambulance with that cost estimated at $250,000 to $450,000.
Dr Klinger has announced his retirement following over seven years of service to MCMC. His final day has not yet been decided. Schryvers expressed his thanks for the service he has provided and wishes him the best of luck in his retirement.
Historical Museum Director Nick Demuth requested acceptance of the donation of a Velocipede from the widow of James Malecki. The item has been on loan from Mr. Malecki since 1986 to End O Line Railroad Park. The only stipulation was for a plaque to be attached to the exhibit acknowledging the gift.
Zoning Administrator Jean Christoffels presented the final plat of Shetek Headwaters Addition. The plat calls for three residential lots at platted in Section11 of Lake Sarah Township. Frisvold Point Addition Final Plat also calls for three residential lots in Section 30 Shetek Township. Both projects were given approval by the Planning Commission and the Board of Commissioners.
Sarah Soderholm and Christoffels outlined the 2025 AIS activities. The Globe will create new digital and video outreach to educate boaters for an amount of $10,000. Environmental Sentry Protection, LLC will provide, install and monitor an I-Lid unit at Swenson County Park on Current Lake. This will be the fifth unit installed in Murray County. The equipment provides a video of boats arriving and leaving a lake and can detect weeds and debris that may contain aquatic invasive species, eg: zebra mussels. The third action given approval was a contract with Waterfront Restoration to hire watercraft inspectors to provide inspections and boater education services at Murray County public boat launches for an amount not to exceed $30,000. All of the three projects are funded with grant funds.
County Highway Engineer Randy Groves presented the bid results for two projects. This was the first time the online bidding process was used. Groves expressed his satisfaction with this method of procuring bids. Sir Lines O Lot, LLC submitted the low bid for maintenance striping at $83,428.10. This was 24.07% below estimates. Asphalt Surface Technologies Corp was the low bidder for this year’s seal coating project at $895,204.60. This bid was below estimates by 15%. A Resolution was approved to adopt funding for the CSAH 13 construction.
Veterans Service Officer Jim Reinert will continue in his part time capacity. Since July 1, 2020 he has provided twenty four hours per pay period at $35 hr. Approval was given to an increase to $45 as was budgeted.
American Legion Commander Brad Pagel presented an invitation to the Commissioners to attend a luncheon with the National American Legion Commander on March 28 at the 4-H Building. The event is open to the public.
