BLUE EARTH — Fari-bault County commissioners had a number of guests at their meeting Tuesday.

Jennifer Nelson of Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation told commissioners about the progress the group is making in Faribault County. She said the foundation is working with EDAs and has been assisting Wells with its child care provider shortage.

The foundation’s focus is three areas: economic development, early childhood and community vitality. Nelson mentioned that within the last year, Faribault County has received about $210,000 in foundation dollars to help in various areas.

Ronda Allis, Minnesota Department of Transportation planning director for District 7, spoke about the improvements the state plans to assist with in the county. Included in plans up to 2028 are improvements on a number of roads.

City administrators from Blue Earth, Wells and Winnebago were in attendance to find out what MnDOT plans to do and when the work will affect their cities.

MnDOT’s plan until the end of the summer is to continue work along I-90 from Highway 15 to just west of the Blue Earth River. Potential improvements for 2020 include work on Highway 254 and Highway 253, while construction on Highway 169 from Iowa to Blue Earth is planned for 2023.

“MnDOT’s goal is to make sure that all non-national highway systems stay under 10 percent of poor ride quality index,” Allis said. “Our district is at 17.2 percent, which is why we are seeing a number of dollars coming into our district to address some of the more serious conditions of our road infrastructures.”

Other plans from MnDOT include improvements along I-90 from Blue Earth to the Wells exit, and work on Highway 22 from Wells to Minnesota Lake.

Caesar Larson, Ashley Winkelman and Charlie Carlson also made an appearance at the meeting. They discussed ongoing litigation involving County Ditch 24. Larson spoke on behalf of Carlson to discuss the number of issues he has faced in the last five years in regard to his property. The trio handed out a packet of information outlining Carlson’s concerns for his property and surrounding properties affected by County Ditch 24.

County engineer Mark Daly also made an appearance to highlight the county’s work on roads and bridges within the 2018 fiscal year. He said a lot of the roads that had been graded D or F have been improved to A and B grades.