BLUE EARTH– “We would like to open the county parks by the middle of April if we could,” Denny Wick of the Public Works Department told the Faribault County Board at their meeting on Tuesday. “We will have to see if the weather permits us to open the parks that early.”

Wick also had an update on the pavilion at Pihls Park.

“We had a total of four bids to pour new concrete inside the shelter,” Wick said. “The lowest bid came from Grotte Construction of Fairmont and was for $16,033. The other three bids all came in at over $25,000.”

The commissioners voted unanimously to accept the bid from Grotte Construction.

The board also approved a non-budget item which was trading for a new Kuhn Disc Mower from A & P Service of Wells. The cost of the mower was $9,000.

County Attorney Cameron Davis addressed a matter from the previous meeting which occurred during the public comment time period.

“I reached out to the member of the public who had critiqued my office and visited with them about their concerns,” Davis commented. “I encourage anyone to contact me directly if you have questions regarding my office and I will be willing to visit with them. Of course there are some things I can talk about and some things I cannot talk about.”

The appointment of commissioners Bruce Anderson and Gertrude Paschke to the Special Election Canvassing Board was approved unanimously.

In other business:

— Sheriff Scott Adams was presented with the Patriot Award by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) representative, Paul Ragatz, for the Sheriff’s Department’s support of deputy Mike Sharp who is a Minnesota National Guard member.

— The board approved the training request of Andrew Mittag of the Human Resources Department to attend the MCHRMA Minnesota Counties Human Resources Management Association) Conference.

— A request by Tammy Olsen of the county assessor’s office to attend the 2026 Minnesota Association of Assessment Personnel Spring Workshop was approved.