Finding people willing to work for the county remains an issue for the Faribault County Board of Commissioners.
“A person we approved last month to begin working for the county informed us his current employer had offered him more money so he did not take the county job,” county auditor/treasurer/coordinator Darren Esser told board members.
County attorney Cameron Davis was also at the meeting and shared there have been zero applications submitted for the assistant county attorney position.
“The rest of the employees in my office are feeling the strain,” Davis shared.
Esser did have some good news to report.
“The hiring committee interviewed four people for the position of senior auditor clerk and unanimously agreed to offer the position to Amy Huber,” Esser said. “She has accepted the offer and will start July 13.”
The board approved a motion to hire Huber.
Asked by board chair Greg Young how many positions remain open, Esser replied, “There are still 10 or 11 positions which could be filled.”
Sheriff Mike Gormley and Chief Deputy Scott Adams were at the meeting with a request for approval to purchase a replacement squad vehicle for the welfare fraud position.
“We had $30,000 in our 2022 budget for this purchase,” Gormley explained. “We have found a 2022 Chevrolet Equinox at Hawkins Chevrolet in Fairmont for the quoted price of $30,190.”
The commissioners asked if there were many lights which would need to be installed on the vehicle.
“It actually has very minimal lighting requirements,” Adams responded.
He also noted the current welfare car, a 2014 Taurus, will be transferred into a transport car.
The board passed a motion approving the purchase of the new vehicle.
Building and Grounds supervisor Saxon Warmka was also at the meeting with a proposal to rent or purchase two 40-foot Conex style shipping/storage containers which need to be on site during the courthouse HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) project.
“The rental cost for one unit per year is $3,336 or a like-new container can be purchased for $6,200,” Warmka commented. “You can purchase cheaper containers but they may be filled with bullet holes or painted with graffiti.”
Commissioners Bruce Anderson and Bill Groskreutz expressed their concerns about renting, saying it was a very real possibility the containers will need to be on site for more than one year.
“If that is the case, then we are better off buying them,” Anderson said. “Then, we can sell them when they are no longer needed.”
The commissioners approved a motion to purchase two like-new containers, for $6,200 each, from Any Way You Want It Storage.
“We plan on placing them on the empty lot east of the courthouse on the other side of Main Street,” Warmka shared.
The board also voted to approve payment No. 2 on the courthouse HVAC project in the amount of $27,759.
“Work continues to proceed on the county highway projects,” Public Works director Mark Daly told the commissioners. “Almost all of the work is complete on County State Aid Highways (CSAH) 21, 28, 30 and 31. Work on CSAH 29 is set to begin this week with full-depth reclamation and the paving is scheduled for mid-August. No work has been done on the Unity Trail in Blue Earth at this time.”
Daly also had a resolution for the commissioners to adopt which stated all work had been completed on the 2021 overlay projects with the final amount of those projects having been paid in full and totaling $4,647,836.
In other business:
• The board passed a resolution updating the county liquor license fee schedule.
• A motion was made and passed directing the board chair to sign and send a letter of support for Bevcomm’s Border to Border Broadband Grant application.
• The board approved storage lease agreements for county offices located at the Ag Center. The cost for storage for 4-H will be $25 per month for approximately 80 square feet of storage. The Economic Development Authority and Soil and Water Conservation District will each pay $35 per month for 150 square feet of storage and the Veterans Services Office will pay $70 per month for 200 square feet.
• The board voted to approve the training request of Lori Mehrhof of the county assessor’s office to attend the Minnesota Association of Assessment Personnel 2022 Summer Workshop.
Finding people willing to work for the county remains an issue for the Faribault County Board of …
Copyright © Faribault County Register | https://www.faribaultcountyregister.com | 125 N. Main St., Blue Earth, MN 56013 | 507-526-7324