Short agenda for county commissioners

There were just two action items on the agenda during the regular meeting of the Waseca County Board of Commissioners Tuesday, Jan. 17. First was the approval of the cooperative construction agreement between Waseca County and the City of Janesville for trail improvements along County Road 53. County staff have a grant application pending for $102,000, approved by the board of commissioners at a previous meeting, which if awarded will cover the full cost of the project. The cooperative construction agreement, approved by the City Council of Janesville on Jan. 9, states that if the grant is not awarded, 70% of construction costs will be paid by Waseca County using reserve money, and 30% by the City of Janesville, using money from the American Rescue Plan Act. The second action taken by the board of commissioners was to award Contract 812301, for rehabilitation of a culvert along County State Access Highway 14, to Floorcoat Midwest, LLC. The culvert in question is a concrete pipe which carries County Ditch 41; it will be getting its joints re-sealed to prevent soil loss. The erosion problem was first brought to the attention of county staff about one year ago when the formation of sinkholes was observed. The issues with the pipe's joints result from problems with its installation; it is otherwise in good condition with a long life of expected service. Floorcoat Midwest, LLC , a company based in Truman, specializes in this type of work; its bid of $164,100 for the project was about 35% lower than anticipated. Waseca County has never contracted with Floorcoat Midwest, LLC before, but expressed hope that they prove reliable and this can lead to a positive and economical working relationship. County engineering staff will supervise the work.

Blue Earth County Commissioners Kevin Paap and Kip Bruender attended remotely to set a hearing date for redetermination of benefits and damages for Joint Ditch 11. The Joint County Drainage Authority board consists of those two from Blue Earth and Waseca Commissioners DeAnn Malterer, Brad Krause, and Dough Christopherson with Malterer serving as Chair. JD-11 is in the northwest portion of Waseca County, extends into Blue Earth County, and includes all of Lake Elysian. The area had undergone major changes in housing since its last redetermination, and now includes approximately 500 residences in Waseca County and 50 in Blue Earth County The final hearing has been set for 1 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Waseca County Commissioners' board room. The Waseca County ditch authority also addressed the board, who approved the start of the redetermination process for County Ditch 47. CD-47 is in New Richland and includes piping near the school building which will soon need maintenance due to its age. It also serves as an outlet for a joint ditch, JD-6, with Freeborn County. The ditch has not had a redetermination of benefits since it was adopted by the county in the 1970s, and the county ditch authority seeks to update its tax roll prior to incurring maintenance costs. Members of the ditch authority will be meeting with counterparts in Freeborn County to coordinate matters regarding JD-6 as necessary.

Editorial Note: Last week’s Waseca County Commissioner’s article referred to the old E.F. Johnson Building. That was incorrect. The property in question is owned by the Brown family.