Edwin approved as new county board chairman

Jan. 2—A new leader is at the helm of the Freeborn County Board of Commissioners.

Commissioners voted Tuesday to elect 1st District Commissioner Brad Edwin as chairman and 3rd District Commissioner John Forman as vice chairman.

The two men had reverse roles in 2023.

Edwin was first elected to the Board of Commissioners in 2020 and was reelected in 2022. This is his first time serving as board chairman.

Fourth District Commissioner Chris Shoff nominated Edwin for the position, while 2nd District Commissioner Dawn Kaasa nominated Shoff. Shoff, however, withdrew his nomination, stating he thought it was good for the commissioners to rotate through the positions. He had served as chairman for several years, last in 2022.

Kaasa nominated Forman for the position of vice chairman, while Edwin nominated 5th District Commissioner Nicole Eckstrom.

Eckstrom said while she appreciated the nomination, she said it might be best to wait another year. She withdrew her nomination and said she wanted to keep good camaraderie on the board and not be pitted against each other.

The board also approved other action typically passed at the start of the year, including banks that the county will do business with, change funds for various departments, petty cash funds for the Auditor-Treasurer's Office and Sheriff's Office and board committee assignments.

All of the board assignments will remain the same as 2023 with the addition of Eckstrom to the Blue Earth-One Watershed One Plan board.

In other action, the board:

—Appointed the Albert Lea Tribune as the official Freeborn County newspaper for 2024 for purposes required by law to be published, including the delinquent tax list. Action also included informing potential bidders that transportation projects may be noticed on the Freeborn County website.

By law, the official newspaper must be used for another six months before the change can be implemented and the transportation projects will no longer be published.

Eckstrom asked if there was a way to tell where the contractors are finding out the information about the projects.

County Highway Engineer Phil Wacholz said he had informal feedback that two contractors get their information from a site called ConneX that the county uses to distribute its plans, as well as another website.

He said one contractor reported that 90% of their work comes from that site.

The site is specific to contractors.

Wacholz said the contractors said they did look at the newspaper, and while he thinks it is viable, he said he thinks a majority are coming from other electronic means.

Eckstrom asked if the board could change its mind and go back to the newspaper publication at a later time and she was told yes.

She said she appreciated Wacholz being aware of the cost savings. Cost to publish these projects was about $5,000 per year.

Wacholz said there is a notification system on the county's website that can alert viewers when new projects are posted.

Forman asked how the county could make sure other people interested from the public could also be informed of the projects.

Wacholz said one of the requirements each year will be to make an annual notice to the public.

Forman also brought up if there was a way to count how many people would be viewing the site.

—Set the crop damage rate for 2024 for standing crops that may be damaged due to repair, improvement or construction projects involving the county's drainage ditches.

The rate will be $963 per acre for corn and $729 per acre for beans.

—Set the crop damage rate for 2024 for crop damages due to repair, improvement or construction projects involving county drainage ditches for land not planted.

Rate of pay will be $660 per acre.

—Appointed delegates to the Association of Minnesota Counties. Delegates include the five commissioners, the administrator, director of Human Services and director of Public Works.

—Established an absentee, UOCAVA and mail ballot board for the 2024 election year.

—Accepted a $450 donation from Round Prairie Lutheran Church Women for the Crime Victims Crisis Center.

—Accepted a donation for $1,000 from the estate and trust of Bernita Lundquist to be used toward administration of the medical assistance program in the county.

—Renewed contracts with Serenity Services and Unique Abilities LLC for guardian and conservator services.

Human Services Director Suzi Nerison said $120,600 is budgeted for this service among all the contracted providers for guardianship and conservator services.

—Renewed contracts with Unique Abilities LLC and REM Woodvale Inc. for semi-independent living services for residents with disabilities.

Nerison said the services are budgeted for about $230,000 among all contracted providers.

—Renewed a contract with Thomas Allen Inc. for case management services for individuals with certified disabilities.

—Approved contracts with Cody Fox and Dave Claussen for drainage inspector services for 2024. The contracts include 3% increases in compensation.

—Set board meetings for the first and third Tuesday of each month starting at 8:30 a.m. for the remainder of the year and workshops for the second Tuesday of each month.

—Determined the contract had been completed in accordance with the plans and specifications for the improvements to County Ditch J21, Branch A.

Costs were initially about $726,000 but were completed at about $518,000.