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Commissioners OK ditch findings of fact

NEW ULM — Brown County Commissioners unanimously approved findings of fact for redetermination of benefits (ROB) on County Ditches 11, 68, and 71 Jan. 23.

The ROB and damages for Ditch 68 were slightly revised to $6,970,406; down slightly from an earlier figure of $6,981,661. Included in the benefits is a 6.4 percent outlet benefit to CD 11.

In addition, a copy of the previously approved seed mixture will be filed and the findings reflect a stipulation that the county may change the mixture in the future. The seeding mix at 25 lbs./acre is a mixture of 25 percent smooth brome grass; orchard grass; Timothy; and perennial rye grass.

Assessments will be billed to cover grass strip acquisition and potential repairs and maintenance as follows: CD 68 $404,000; CD 71 $110,000; and CD 11 $350,000. There is a 30-day appeal period after the order is signed and filed in the Brown County Auditor-Treasurer’s Office.

Commissioners unanimously approved:

• Findings of fact for the consolidation of improvement 11 Lat A and B to a new system labeled CD 11.

• A three-year conditional use permit application by Jeff Carlson of M. R. Paving & Excavating to renew an existing gravel pit to allow a gravel mining operation to include extraction, crushing and processing in the A-1 Agricultural Zoning District in Section 12, Milford Township.

Carlson added an application statement that read M. R. Paving will use calcium chloride in the Runck pit driveway from Boundary Street into the pit on a 800 feet long and 20 feet wide gravel road. When it is dry for any length of time, M. R. Paving will water the chloride to activate it.

• A single-lot split application by Timothy Peterson on property owned by Mae L. Tande Testamentary Trust known as Tande Subdivision (3.38 acres) in Section 32, Albin Township. The parcel being platted is an existing building site being split off from tilled ground.

• By a 4-1 vote with Commissioner Dave Borchert dissenting, accepting Optimum Solutions, Inc.’s $56,660 quote for the purchase and maintenance of a new payroll system software package; and RtVision Inc. $30,775 quote for the purchase and maintenance of a timecard system software package.

• A financial technician job description for a new Auditor/Treasurer’s Office position.

• Posting a property maintenance specialist and drainage assisting position. The position will not change the Auditor/Treasurer’s Office staff complement.

• Setting the County Board of Review for 7 p.m., Monday, June 18, in the commissioners’ room.

• The 2017 landfill annual report and 2018 environmental monitoring reporting assistance from GEI Consultants in an amount not to exceed $24,000.

• A county well-sealing cost-share program providing 50 percent of the billed cost of sealing unused wells with cost-share not to exceed $400, with up to $4,000 annually available from interest generated from the County Septic Loan Program.

• Designating the county attorney position as full-time. County Attorney Chuck Hanson does not have a private practice. The county attorney position status is similar to that of the other three elected county department heads.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.

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