BROWN COUNTY — Brown County commissioners passed a state of emergency declaration Tuesday.

The declaration made on a motion by Commissioner Scott Windschitl, seconded by Commissioner Tony Berg, must be made for Brown County to be able to apply for possible state and federal assistance for COVID-19 costs. All county departments must track costs for possible reimbursement.

Commissioners also:

• Received an informational update on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) and the role of the public health department in planning and response.

“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 Brown County Public Health request.

“We are in full emergency operations and incident command mode,” said Brown County Public Health Director Karen Moritz. “It takes all five of us to handle phone calls.”

Moritz said as of Monday, there were 54 Minnesota cases, 4,661 cases and 85 deaths in the United States, 185,067 global cases and 7,330 deaths.

She described disease symptoms as fever, cough and shortness of breath.

“Stay home if you’re sick, cover coughs, wash hands well and avoid face touching,” Moritz said. She urged people to make virtual contact, answering screening questions with their medical facility (Allinahealth.org) to determine if testing is needed before calling or going to see a doctor.

“You don’t have to test just because you are sick. Eighty percent of cases are mild,” Moritz said. “Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best. Keep calm. Wash your hands often. We are resilient and will work through this. Be kind to each other. Check on the elderly.”

The Minnesota Department of Public Health hotline is 651-201-3920.

Commissioners also:

• Unanimously approved a design engineer proposal to rehabilitate Bridge 6534 on State Highway 13 over the Little Cottonwood River, motion by Windschitl, seconded by Berg. 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 State Highway 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.

• Appointed New Ulm Assistant City Engineer Joe Stadtheim as the Brown County Planning Commission District 1 Commissioner, motion by Commissioner Berg, seconded by Commissioner Windschitl.

• Unanimously approved a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application by Brad Gaard, Section 4, Sigel Township to continue to allow operation of a manufacturing and machine shop including a lathe and milling machine as a home occupation in an accessory structure, motion by Commissioner Berg, seconded by Commissioner Veerkamp.

• A CUP application by Arland Roiger, Section 33, North Star Township and Section 5, Stately Township to allow use of an existing gravel mine to include crushing and/or screening, gravel extraction and processing, motion by Commissioner Berg, seconded by Commissioner Borchert.

Commissioners received a letter dated March 15 from Gary and Pat Roiger complaining about gravel hauling dust on weekends and questioned the need to haul gravel on weekends.

• A CUP application by Matthew J. Dorfner of MICB Inc., on property owned by Loren J. and Yvonne Gage, Section 9, Cottonwood Township, to allow use of an existing 110-foot radio transmission tower for a Christian-related radio station, motion by Commissioner Veerkamp, seconded by Commissioner Berg.

• A CUP application by Andrew Schmidt, Section 19, Burnstown Township, to continue to allow use of a 40 foot by 85 foot office building to include an employee equipment storage shop for a masonry business, motion by Commissioner Berg, seconded by Commissioner Veerkamp.

• Preliminary plat applications filed by Bruce Pace, 6.32 acres, Section 26, Linden Township, to adjust the current building site, motion by Commissioner Berg, seconded by Commissioner Windschitl; filed by Charles Waibel, Section 33, Sigel Township, to separate the building site from tillable acres, motion by Commissioner Berg, seconded by Commissioner Simonsen.

• By a 3-2 vote with Commissioners Simonsen and Berg dissenting, refused a request to move the Brown County Probation Juvenile Crew Leader position to full-time status and reduce the Sentence to Service crewleader positions from two to one.

Commissioner Windschitl made the motion, seconded by Commissioner Veerkamp, to refuse the request. Windschitl said he didn’t see the benefit of making the change and that the initial financial savings would not last.

The request was made due to retirement of the current half-time plus juvenile crew leader and to post a vacancy for a full-time crew leader position. County savings was estimated at $13,584.

• Unanimously approved a recommendation of the Wetlands Ad Hoc Committee of clarifying the April 18, 2017 decision that the Notice of Decision is valid in perpetuity, so long as the applicant’s activity described in the application commences within three years of the decision, motion by Commissioner Simonsen, seconded by Commissioner Berg.

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.