FAIRMONT– On Tuesday the Martin County Board of Commissioners considered a request from the Fairmont Cemetery Association to release funds in the amount of $50,435 for Lakeside Cemetery in Fairmont. The county had previously set aside the amount in the 2024 budget but on Tuesday several commissioners expressed doubts over that action.

Commissioner Steve Flohrs said he was worried that any business in Martin County could come to the county and request special funds.

“I don’t like this idea at all,” Flohrs said.

Commissioner Elliot Belgard agreed that the commissioners were setting a bad precedence. He questioned whether the city of Fairmont was giving the cemetery any money.

“I know it’s included in the budget but I don’t know that it should have been in there,” Belgard said.

County Coordinator Scott Higgins said that it’s an eligible expense because it’s for a cemetery. Belgard said other cemeteries could come asking for money, too.

“There’s only two cemeteries in the county that could do this,” Commissioner Richard Koons said.

Higgins pointed out that there have been several discussions on the matter already and that the board agreed to put money in the budget for it.

The association first came to the board last July initially asking the county if it would take over control and operations of the cemetery because it was struggling to not only finance the cemetery but find staff to maintain it.

The board held several work sessions on the matter and even toured the cemetery but in October 2023 turned down the request to take control of the cemetery.

During Tuesday’s meeting Commissioner Jamie Bleess asked how many other non-profits the county gives money to and several, including Kinship and the Red Rock Center for the Arts, were mentioned. Bleess later pointed out that the city of Fairmont, to his knowledge, does not given money to these non-profits.

“My feelings on this is it will not be an ongoing expense. I think they’re showing some real need and working really hard to get things working better. I think this will help get them back on track and that’s why I’m in support of it,” Commissioner Kathy Smith said

of releasing the funds.

She added that if it was an ongoing release of funds she didn’t think she would be in favor of it but could get behind it as a one time deal.

Bleess reiterated that the money was in the budget. County Auditor/Treasurer, Mike Forstner, said that the original request to take it over was $239,000 but that the county had scaled back greatly to $50,000.

Smith told the commissioners that the board did not need to approve the request and she also suggested they revisit it at a later date.

Belgard again asked whether the city of Fairmont was giving money to the cemetery as it’s in the city’s jurisdiction. Smith said she was not sure whether the city of Fairmont had been approached.

“I don’t think it all falls on the county to take care of this,” Belgard said.

“I understand your concern, Elliot.. but if they do decide they’re done, it reverts back to the county, right?” Smith asked County Attorney Taylor McGowan.

McGowan said that if the cemetery is abandoned the county would be faced with whether or not it wanted to take it over.

Smith pleaded with the board to help the cemetery association on a one-time basis

“It’s a tough one. We’ve been talking about this a lot of months,” Smith said.

Koons agreed that the county had been talking about and considering the request for quite some time and acknowledged that the board had previously decided not to take over the cemetery. However, he did say that he did not want to see the cemetery go defunct.

The council agreed to have the topic be placed on the agenda for the first meeting in April.

“That’s what should be done. We should talk about this some more,” said Flohrs.

In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, Casey Westhoff, CEO of MRCI, which is based out of Mankato with a local location, was present to talk about the organization and ask if a commissioner wanted to sit on the board of directors.

Westhoff said that MRCI is a non-profit organization that primarily serves people with disabilities and disadvantages. He said it has a presence in 77 counties throughout Minnesota and that it is the seventh largest civic non-profit in the state.

“We currently have 12 board of directors… we do have a spot in our bylaws for a Martin County representative,” Westhoff said.

Smith asked when the meetings are and Westhoff said they’re generally in Mankato at the MRCI headquarters and typically last an hour or more. He said that attending virtually is an option for those who need to. The board meets every other month.

“I think we should fill the seat if we can,” Smith said.

The board also heard from County Surveyor, Ben Madsen, who brought forth a public land survey system grant application. The board had previously authorized a letter of intent for the grant application.

As it was explained, the main purpose of the project is to initiate a section corner re-monumentation. The project will develop corner certificates made for all of the corners in the county and make them available to the public.

On Tuesday Madsen said that there is $9 million available in grants and that each county can apply for a portion of the funds. He said that 65 counties have also submitted a letter of intent and that $16.5 million in funding has been requested.

“It will be a competitive process,” Madsen said.

The board passed a resolution to authorize and submit the grant application in the amount of $118,000. Madsen said the application deadline is April 4 so there is some time to fine-tune it though it is largely done.

In other business, the board:

— Approved a liquor license renewal for Rose Lake Golf Club.

— Approved a revised purchase of a one-ton pickup truck for the highway department. The 2024 Ford F350 will come from Fairmont Ford in the amount of $50,238.

— Set a public hearing for Tuesday, April 2 for property tax abatement for a single family home in Fairmont.

— Denied an application for property tax abatement for a single family home in Ceylon as the request did not meet the guidelines. The board agreed to return the application fee and send the requester a letter containing its reasoning.

— Approved recruitment of temporary seasonal positions, including a library summer intern, highway department summer help and two summer boat and water patrolmen.

Toward the end of the meeting the board went into closed session to discuss the purchase of real property of county use.