FAIRMONT — County Road 26 east of Fairmont is nearing completion, and a dry forecast may give construction crews the opening they need to finish the project.

The project has been delayed by relentless rain over the summer and fall.

Martin County Highway Engineer Kevin Peyman gave a construction update to Martin County commissioners Tuesday.

“The shouldering is done, so all they have left is to put topsoil alongside the shoulder to stabilize the bank,” he said. “That probably will take about a week, and then the rumble [strips] that get milled in along the edges scheduled for next Monday. Then they have the painting/striping, and they don’t have a set date on that yet, they want to see how the topsoil goes.

“Once they get a better idea on when the topsoil will be done then they can get the striping scheduled too. Hopefully within a week or so they should be able to get everything done and get it back open. So they’re getting close.”

Commissioner Elliot Belgard said the road is important to the agricultural community. He hopes it will be finished soon.

Peyman noted that while road use has increased, it cannot legally be opened yet.

“When there’s equipment working on the road it has to be closed,” he said. “But they’re doing all they can and it’s close [to opening].”

Turning to other action, the board approved a $20,000 fund for the Martin County Veterans Memorial. The motion was presented by Commissioner Dan Schmidtke as members of the memorial committee were unable to be present.

“They had asked us over a year ago for some donations and we had budgeted $20,000 for the Martin County Veterans Memorial,” said Schmidtke, who noted that the money will not be spent instantly, rather it will be put into a fund to grow.

“I like the fund idea a lot better,” said Commissioner Steve Flohrs. “This memorial is supposed to last forever and there will be ongoing expense, so I’d really like to see it earmarked toward some sort of fund.”

County Auditor/Treasurer James Forshee said a fund could probably be established for that purpose.

“Basically, we would take that $20,000 and put it into that fund,” he said. “It stays within the county and the board has control of that fund, and then when a request comes in then we can address it at that time.”

“Maybe that fund could grow,” said Commissioner Kathy Smith. “Maybe we could put some dollars in that fund to grow it so there would be money there for a long time.”

Commissioner Elliot Belgard also weighed in, saying that while he approves of the memorial, it is important that some of the more tangible needs of veterans also be addressed.

“I’m 100 percent in support of that project,” he said, adding that he believes such things should be private rather than public. “When people throw up the, ‘It’s for veterans’ thing,’ I always want to remind everybody that we have $190,000 in our budget to take care of the real needs of the veterans. The memorial’s a nice thing too, but not as important to me as their needs.”

In other news, the board heard from MCSAP Coalition Project coordinator Steph Johnson and County Attorney Terry Viesselman, who presented them with a proposed Martin County social host ordinance. It would hold individuals responsible for hosting or knowingly providing a place for underage drinking. Before such an ordinance could be adopted, a public hearing would need to be held. The board chose to schedule the public hearing for Nov. 6.