ABOVE: The Martin County Board of Commissioners and interns with the county/Minnesota Valley Action Council (MVAC) program on Tuesday. Front row, from left: Commissioner Elliot Belgard, Commissioner Jaime Bleess, Auditor/Treasurer, Michael Forstner, Comissioner Richard Koons, County Coordinator, Scott Higgins, Commissioner Steve Flohrs, Commissioner Kathy Smith. Back row, from left: Briana Joseph, Project 1590; Tanner Rosch, Cutting Edge Fitness; Aaron Hendrickson, Easy Automation; Gracia Heille, Fairmont Photo Press; Cadence Becker, UHD; Grace Miller, Mayo Occupational Therapy; Kiley Bettin, Fairmont/MCW CER; Kelley Bettin, Fairmont/MCW CER; Jackson Francis, Sterling Drug; Gavin Rodning, Martin County Soil and Water; Faith Olson, Carlson Dental; Eden Becker, Easy Automation; Hannah Neusch, Mayo Physical Therapy; Seth Scarfpin, Sanz Kenway; Tammie Hested, Coordinator with MVAC.

FAIRMONT– On Tuesday the Martin County Board of Commissioners heard from all 14 of the interns in the Martin County/Minnesota Valley Action Council (MVAC) summer program. The interns shared what high school they graduated from, where they’re attending college, what they’re studying and where they’re interning at.

The county has funded the program since it started in 2012. It provides Martin County high school gradates who are pursuing a two or four year degree a chance to receive relevant job experience from a business in the county. The goal of the program is to show students the job opportunities that are available here in the hopes that they’ll return upon graduating.

After the students introduced themselves, Commissioner Richard Koons said, “it’s a very impressive bunch of young people. We’re glad to have you. This board supports you and supports this program unanimously. It’s a good program and we hope you guys can find a way to come back here and stay here.”

Tammie Hested, coordinator for the program, said, “most of them are just getting started so they’re just learning. Some of them have some really cool, special projects this summer.”

She thanked the board for its support of the program and recognized that it’s a big investment. The county gave $55,000 for the program this year, most of which will go to wages for the students.

The board also heard an update on the county’s legislative bonding request for $19.2 million from its lobbyist, Bob Long with Larkin Hoffman. Long shared that the legislation adjourned on May 22 and that an agreement was finally reached, $1.5 billion in general obligation borrowing and $1.1 billion in use of state surplus cash funds. The two bills totaled $2.6 billion.

“Unfortunately we didn’t any get funding but there’s a long story behind it. The real short story is, at the end of the day… each senator was allowed… roughly between $10 and $13 million was the average allocation for a project in their district and that was pretty much true across the state,” Long said.

There was also a project in Madelia for $12.8 million that was part of a bill two years ago and Long said that projects are carried forward that were previously approved but never adopted. He stressed that it wasn’t in control of Senator Rich Draheim or Representative Bjorn Olson because the funds for Madelia had already been voted on.

“At the end of the day, Sen. Draheim got one project funded for $12.8 million based on the bill that got passed back in March. Despite all the efforts by Rep. Olson and Sen. Draheim, there wasn’t any changing that. We’re left unfortunately with no dollars,” Long said.

He did say that through the process the senate and the house agreed to have another bonding bill in the 2024 session and that $1.1 billion from the surplus can be used if an agreement is met. Long said that Olson has indicated that Martin County’s project would be his number one priority.

Commissioner Kathy Smith, who sits on the Justice Center committee, said that it recommends moving forward with an application and resolution to apply for $12.75 million for next year’s bonding bill.

“The committee is also recommending that the board and other interested parties… have a work session soon to discuss how we want to move forward and what the project needs to look like now that the funding we’re requesting is quite a bit less than what we were expecting,” Smith said.

Belgard said that he knows the committee has spent a lot of time on the project, but pointed out that now they’re asking for less money while the cost of construction has gotten more expensive since they started.

“It’s a tough ask every time we change it and ask again,” Belgard said.

While he said that he feels the money the county has spent on Long and his firm has been worth it, he questioned how much more it will cost going forward. Belgard also noted that the county has “no chance” getting bonding money going for it on its own.

Long said that he thinks it’s worthwhile for the county to seek bonding in the next round. He said the deadline for the form is June 16.

Smith added that the county is still using the $2.1 million that it received from the legislature two years ago to use for planning and design work.

“And we wouldn’t have gotten that without Bob Long, either,” Belgard said.

The board passed a motion to authorize the board chair to sign a letter of support for the 2024 legislative bonding request in the amount of $12.75 million to provide financial assistance to the county for the construction of the proposed Martin County Regional Public Safety ad Justice Center.

It also set a work session for 2:00 p.m. June 20 to discuss next steps regarding the project.

Moving to other matters, the board considered a resolution for notice of intent to make the Office of the Martin County Auditor/Treasurer appointed. This comes following the news that current Auditor/Treasurer, Michael Forstner, does not intend to file for office in the next election.

“We’ve talked about appointing the position for years and years and years and have never done it. The time is now,” said Belgard.

The board unanimously passed the resolution.

In other news, the board:

— Approved a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for MB Realty LLC within section 28 of Fairmont Township.

— Set a public hearing time and date of 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 5 for a single family home tax abatement request in Elm Creek Township.

— Heard an update from Ashley Brenke, Director of Martin County Soil and Water Conservation District, on the Blue Earth River Watershed One Watershed, One Plan Project. Brenke was seeking support from the board on the project, which it gave.

— Accepted the resignation of highway maintenance technician, Zachary Bartlett, and authorized recruitment to fill the position.

— Approved an increased headcount to jail personnel and authorized recruitment to fill a regular full-time correctional office position.

— Approved and authorized recruitment to fill a drainage administrator vacancy.

— Approved a motion to address additional drainage issues at the courthouse.

The board approved the following hires for the Sheriff’s Office:

— Promotion of Colin Meadows from part-time to full-time deputy sheriff.

— Full-time correctional officer, Kristin Gabler.

— Seasonal water patrol deputies, Dylan Benes and Klay Brown.