FAIRMONT– During the first Martin County Commissioner meeting of the year on Tuesday, the board had to appoint its members and to sit on a variety of boards and committees. In making appointments, the board saw several split votes.

Commissioner Kevin Kristenson, who at the meeting was selected as board chair, asked the rest of the board to discuss what committees they would like to stay on and which they would like to go off of.

Each commissioner sits on anywhere from 15 to 25 different boards and committees including Region Nine, Minnesota Valley Action Council, county budget committee, broadband steering committee, Prairie Lakes Transit and various ditch authority boards.

Some of the meetings that are further away can be attended virtually, though some do require travel. Some of the boards and committees also require that an alternate be appointed.

Commissioner Jaime Bleess said he did not have any conflict with the boards he was on and Commissioner Billeye Rabbe, who was on Tuesday elected vice chair, said she liked hers and said that since she’s only been on them for one year, she would like to continue with them.

Commissioner Joe Loughmiller said he did not have major issues, but that some of the meeting times for his current appointments were hard to fit in his schedule, and some swaps were made with other commissioners with some also cutting down on travel and related expenses.

Loughmiller asked about some appointments that have traditionally been for the chair and vice chair.

“The question that I had in some conversation is, the only one on the paper that we received that said it needed to stay chair and vice chair was personnel. Do we want to divvy up the others ones among the five of us or do we want to keep it as chair and vice chair?” Loughmiller asked.

Commissioner Richard Koons said that some committees, like budget, have always included the chair and vice chair.

Kristenson asked whether they could keep a current member on building committee and then put someone new on it.

“I’m curious what has happened historically,” Loughmiller said.

He asked County Coordinator Scott Higgins what previous boards had decided. Higgins said that last year was the first year the board had decided chair and vice chair when making some appointments but that previous to that commissioners chose what they served on.

“The building committee is something that needs to be revived every year and have different eyes on it. The insurance committee has to be the personnel committee because they’re the ones that do the budget… there’s reasons for it,” Koons explained.

Loughmiller said that if the committees were divvied up, he had interest in being on the investment committee. Bleess said that he was just getting used to capital improvement projects and would like to stay on the building committee.

Koons made a motion to keep certain assignments, including audit, building, budget, insurance, investment, personnel, department heads and labor management committees with the chair and vice chair, which Rabbe seconded.

Kristenson pointed out that Loughmiller was interested in the investment committee and Bleess, the former vice chair, was interested in the building committee.

“We need to work on our strengths,” Kristenson said.

However, Bleess said he has been studying capital improvement projects and that he felt like the board was pushing things he was trying to get better at to the sidelines.

Loughmiller asked if there was an interest in removing the building and investment committee out of the list of committees for chair and vice chair.

“You have a strong interest in investments and I have a strong interest and recent background in capital improvements,” Bleess said.

Loughmiller made a motion to keep all with the chair and vice chair, except for the investment and building committees. Bleess seconded it.

Koons said he was not willing to amend his motion but Higgins said a roll call vote on the amendment could take place and the motion passed 3-2 with Koons and Rabbe opposed.

The board next voted on the chair and vice chair sitting on the audit, budget, insurance, personnel, department heads and labor management committees. The motion passed 3-2 with Koons and Rabbe again opposed.

When it came time to discuss specifics of the investment and building committees, it was determined that Bleess and Rabbe would sit on the budding committee and Loughmiller and Kristenson on the investment committee. These appointments were accepted unanimously and in another roll call vote, the overall appointments were accepted unanimously.

In other business, the board:

— Approved designating the county website for advertisements of transportation projects.

— Approved a construction consent form with Federated Rural Electric Association for the Martin County fiber optic internet buildout project to install fiber optic internet cable to the East Chain Park.

— Approved and authorized the execution of the 2024 Emergency Management Performance grant in the amount of $17,385, effective Jan. 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026.

— Approved, upon recommendation of Oleson and Hobbie Architects, to move ahead with advertising for sealed bids for the county impound facility roof replacement project.

— Approved the hire of Tanner Menke and Nick Sandberg as full-time appraisers in the Martin County Assessor’s office.

— Accepted the retirement resignation of Veteran Services administrative assistant, Tamara Plumhoff, effective Feb. 27, 2026.

— Approved keeping the regularly scheduled board meetings at 9 a.m. on the first and third Tuesday of the month in the Commissioners Board Room at the Martin County Courthouse.

— Designated the Fairmont Photo Press as the official county legal newspaper for 2026.