County deals with flooding, taxes

At their May 16 meeting, the Waseca County Board of Commissioners declared a State of Emergency regarding the flooding experienced throughout the county which caused damage to both private and public property. With the State of Emergency in place, if total damages exceed $42,000 state aid can be obtained.

A residential tax abatement for the construction of new homes was approved; a previous agreement between the City of Waseca and the county had expired in 2020 which created a property tax decrease for  homes built within city limits; the agreement was reinstated and applies to homes valued less than $500,000, although due to rising housing and construction costs the city is considering adjustments. The board was also presented with a tax abatement plan for rural development in Waseca County with similar language, placing the value cap for rural homes at $1 million. The discussion on this plan was tabled until the June 20 meeting pending more information from county staff.

A Conditional Use Permit (CUP) was approved for a 4.5-acre yard waste compost facility to be built in section 8 of Otisco Township, south of the recycling center there. Evans Companies of Byron, won the project bid at $288,000; more than 40% under the engineer's estimate. The project received $250,000 in grant money from the Greater Minnesota Recycling and Composting Grant awarded by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Remaining costs are to be paid by the Fund 19 Investment Account. The completion date for the project is September 2.

Another contract, for the bike trail project running from Janesville to the south of Lake Elysian, was awarded to Nielson Blacktopping with a bid nearly $139,000, almost 9% more than the engineer's estimate. The county is responsible for 70% of this cost according to the cooperative construction agreement, which is to be funded by road and bridge reserve funds. The project is expected to be completed by early September, though the schedule is not finalized. Commissioner DeeAnn Malterer noted that the City of Janesville should be contacted regarding the scheduling to avoid interfering with Hay Daze celebrations.

A request was also approved from Chris Howard of Land and Water Resources to spend Riparian Funds not to exceed $110,000 for purchases previously approved by the board to be used for noxious weed spraying of 28 county ditches.