NEW ULM — Brown County commissioners will receive an informational update on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) and the role of the public health department in planning and response, on Tuesday, March 17.

The board meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 17 in the courthouse commissioner’s room.

Brown County Public Health Supervisor Jaimee Brand and Registered Nurse Michelle Steinbeisser will present a situational update including prevention of the spread of the disease, illness symptoms and treatment, the role of local public health including collaboration and planning and resources for accurate information.

“Because this is a new virus, there are still things we do not know, such as how severe the illness can be, how well it is transmitted between people, and other features of it. We are learning more about it as it evolves. The situation is evolving daily. Information we have today may not be the information we have tomorrow,” read the request.

Commissioners will also consider:

• A design engineer proposal to rehabilitate Bridge 6534 on CSAH 13 over the Little Cottonwood River. The bridge was built in 1953, widened in 1977 and is in satisfactory condition.

It does not have concrete approach panels. It has twist-down guard rail that is not recommended anymore. This segment of CSAH 13 is planned for concrete overlay in 2021.

The State Aid Bridge Office was contacted to see if the bridge needs any special treatment with a concrete overlay on the approach. The office determined concrete approach panels should be added to each end of the bridge to protect it from concrete overlay.

The office suggested that end blocks be inspected and possibly repaired since the design has had end blocks fail. Brown County has two bridges where concrete end blocks failed and had to be repaired.

A consultant is required to design approach panels and end block repair if needed plus design the guard rail to current standards. Erickson Engineering made a proposal to inspect the bridge for a $1,100 estimated fee. Cost of the bridge rehabilitation design and plans was estimated at $20,600.

• The 2019 Annual County Feedlot Report.

• The recommendation of the Wetlands Ad Hoc Committee of clarifying the April 18, 2017 decision that the Notice of Decision is valid in perpetuity, without conditions, so long as the applicant’s activity described in the application commences within three years of the decision.

The decision stems from a wetland impact evaluation, irrigation well pumping test, no loss determination regarding a water appropriation permit application by Jason Cunningham, Stark Township.

In a Dec. 20, 2016 letter to Brown County Wetland Administrator John Knisely, Principal Hydrogeologist Daniel Whitney, P.G. of Northwest Aqwatek Solutions, LLC (NWATS), wrote “no impact to the to the wetland will occur from utilizing an irrigation well at a rate of about 450 gallons per minute for crop production during the growing season that supports the assertion of a no-loss determination for the wetland.

The permit involves a wetland adjacent to the Cunningham farm field related to cropland irrigation. The three-acre wetland was classified as a Type 1 Wetland that periodically contains surface water, particularly during early spring, but is often farmed during dry periods.

Due to the proximity of the wetland to the respective irrigation well, Brown County required Cunningham to complete a Minnesota Wetland Conservation Act joint application in accordance with Minnesota Rule 8420.0415 (Appendix D).

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