FAIRMONT– Bob Mickelson of ISG provided the Martin County Board of Commissioners an update on the courthouse roof project during their meeting on Tuesday morning.

“We’re getting toward the end of the project. The standing seam copper–which is what they’re working on now– they’re about 95 percent (done). By the end of next week they should be done with the standing seam copper,” Mickelson said, adding that that’s the last big piece of copper work to be done.

He said the rooftop units are due to come in in mid-October and then work will begin on that. Mickelson said a walkway was added for safety reasons and that it’s currently being made and will be installed in late October.

The masons, from Renaissance Roofing, are finishing the parapet work and that once it’s completed, the scaffolding should be coming down in November.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed the eagles have landed and they’re installed up there so that’s a good thing,” Mickelson said of the four copper eagle statues that were fixated on the corners of the top of the courthouse over the summer.

Commissioner Kathy Smith asked where the water will be draining from the roof. This was a topic of conversation several months ago as the commissioners were told it was uncertain where the original downspout drains led to in the basement.

Mickelson said it’s currently draining over land, over the back parking lot.

“I don’t think there’s a direct path for it to go directly into the lake at this point,” Mickelson said.

He said that on the front side, the drains will go into the grass, where the water will be absorbed and it will likely never make it to the street drains. On the back side, he said they need to put in a trench drain because legally they can’t have water going over the sidewalk.

The board also discussed the 2023 preliminary budget and levy. As of now the levy is a 7.53 percent over last year’s. The board will discuss the budget several more times before it is approved in December.

Moving to other business, Judd Schultz, Housing Services Director for Minnesota Valley Action Council, was present to request additional funds under the Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) for three households in Trimont.

For the first house, Schultz said from the time they were bidder to the time they were able to do the work, there was a small increase so they were requesting an additional $1,700. For the second household, Schultz said the property has a lot of needs and an additional $18,180 was requested.

The board approved the first two requests but denied the third request for an additional $8,115.

In other news, County Engineer Kevin Peyman said they received $1,020 in donations in memory of the late Bruce Goraczkowski, a long-time park board member. Peyman said the money will likely be used for some sort of memorial for Goraczkowski in one of the parks.

In other action, the board:

— Authorized a county absentee ballot board and designated the Martin County Courthouse as the absentee polling place.

— Authorized the promotion of Audra Yankee to a full-time communications officer for the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

— Approved increasing the hours for the assistant library director position from 35 hours to 40 hours per week.

— Approved and authorized recruitment of a chief deputy auditor/treasurer position in the Audit/Treasurer’s Office.

— Approved and authorized recruitment of a land records technician position in the Auditor/Treasurer’s Office.