FAIRMONT — Martin County commissioners on Tuesday heard an update on the Highway Department from County Engineer Kevin Peyman.

Peyman covered how the county dealt with the most recent winter storm, as well as noting the challenges faced by plow drivers.

“The roads are still mostly ice-covered,” he said. “We worked two and a half hours Saturday and four and a half hours Sunday afternoon, and we started back early this morning.

“Normally I talk about how when it’s ice we just do stop signs, hills and curves for sand and salt. They are starting early this morning spotting all of the roads instead of just stop signs, hills and curves because it looks like it’s going to be cold for a few days. I’m guessing we’ll probably fighting it through the end of the week.”

When asked if there have been any accidents with plows this year, Peyman was happy to report there have been no major incidents.

“We had a lot less than we had last year when we were rear-ended a few times,” he said. “So far so good.”

“I don’t see how you guys do it when the roads are all white and there’s no tracks,” said Commissioner Steve Flohrs. “It gets to you, doesn’t it?”

“I tell people that if the cars can’t see, the plows can’t see either, especially if it’s a really windy day,” Peyman said. “The plows don’t have anything better than what the cars have to help them see, so it does get to be long days for the guys. It just gets to be stressful and hard to see, so we have to limit how long they can be out there.”

In a related matter, Peyman noted that interviews are underway for various positions.

“We had one internal candidate for the park/highway position, and then interviews now are for the purely highway ones and we’ll also be interviewing for the park one.”

In other action, the board:

o Approved a motion authorizing participation in the 2020 Martin County Summer Youth Internship program, as well as authorizing the board chairperson to sign the administrative agreement with Minnesota Valley Action Council.

o Approved a request from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office for a deputy to attend Active Shooter Threat Instructor Training at Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy.

The $275 cost will come from the Sheriff’s Office budget.