Trending
BLUE EARTH-- On June 23 of this year, an apartment fire in Elmore caused considerable damage to the Parkview Elmore Apartments.
At the Tuesday meeting of the Faribault County Board of Commissioners, county assessor Brady Rauenhorst and county auditor/treasure Chuck Schrader presented the commissioners with a proposal for tax abatements for the property for 2026 and 2027.
"The 12-unit apartment complex located at 208 Jay Street in Elmore suffered severe damage due to a fire," Rauenhorst told the board. "One and a half units burned, four units sustained water damage and all 12 units suffered smoke damage. Consequently, all occupants were forced to relocate and the structure is currently uninhabitable."
Schrader explained that certain requirements had to be met for the property to be eligible for the tax abatements.
"To quality for a property Local Option Disaster Abatement and Credit, the structure needs to be at least 50 percent damaged," Schrader explained.
Rauenhorst said an inspection determined that 65 percent of the building was damaged and therefore the building met the stated requirements.
The board approved two separate resolutions. The first resolution approved a tax abatement for the 2026 taxes with the final amount to be determined at the end of the year (estimated to be $1,359).
The second resolution was to approve a tax credit for the 2027 taxes, with the final amount to be determined when the 2027 tax rates are finalized (estimated at approximately $2,000).
Asked if the apartment building was going to be demolished, Rauenhorst responded that the owner is currently planning on fixing and repairing the damage to the structure.
In other business:
-- On a 4-1 vote, the County board voted to deny a conditional use permit for a proposed Cannabis Microbusiness without on-site retail sales which would have been located in Clark Township a little over a mile south of Wells.
-- The board approved the request of Karla Schwieger of Central Services to attend training on website administration.
-- Approved the requests of Jennifer Howard of the Veterans Services Office to attend the Minnesota County Veteran Services Office (CVSO) Fall Conference and Ellen Skaden of the Veterans Services Office to attend the Minnesota CVSO Assistants Association Conference.