At the Fillmore County Board’s March 2 meeting, a list of county businesses was approved to receive a portion of the grant money which was received from the State of Minnesota. The grants are to provide financial relief for businesses impacted by the COVID pandemic. Applications for this second round of business grants were received from January 6 through February 1.
Unfortunately, the requests for grant money totaled $1.67 million. The total grant money to be distributed is $415,000. About $10,000 of that was to be for administrative costs. None will be used for administrative costs; 100% of the grant funds will be dispersed to county businesses. Still, many will be disappointed. County Administrator Bobbie Hillery said it was a long process to go through the many requests.
A committee went through the applications and devised certain parameters in order to fairly reduce the number of applicants to receive the limited funding. Commissioner Mitch Lentz, who served on the committee, said it doesn’t mean businesses that were eliminated during this process don’t need the funds due to financial impacts because of the pandemic. They had to come up with a methodology to reduce the number of requests.
Sixty-four businesses survived the reduction process. Assuming there were not any current tax liens on record with the Secretary of State at the time of their application, each of them will receive some grant funds in amounts of $9,000 or less.
A resolution was approved extending the State of Emergency for continuing operations due to the pandemic through April 6.
By consensus, the board authorized county buildings to be reopened to the public without an appointment. Sanitation, social distancing, and other safety measures will continue.
Other business in brief
•At the last meeting, representatives from CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP reviewed the county’s 2019 audit. The 2019 Audited Financial Statements were approved as presented.
•County Engineer Ron Gregg presented three quotes from area dealers for a 2021 Polaris Ranger with trade-in of a 2016 Ranger. The lowest quote in the amount of $10,350 submitted by M & M Power Sports, Rushford, was approved as recommended.
The final payment to Croell-Redi-Mix was approved for about 11 miles of concrete overlay north and south of Ostrander. The total cost of the project was $3,716,810.44; the final payment was $185,840.53.
•Three conditional use permits were approved. Public hearings were held on all three at the February 18 Planning Commission. There was no opposition to any of them and each was recommended for approval.
A CUP was granted for Timothy Lawstuen for a private campground, section 4, Fountain Township. The CUP is for up to seven campsites and an emergency evacuation plan is required. The location of the holding tank will be shown on a map.
A CUP was granted for Kevin and Bryan Logue, section 5, Fountain Township, for a farm winery. The CUP is limited to the activities referred to in section 737.03 of the Fillmore County Zoning Ordinance. The brothers indicated they have plans for the future that will likely require them to come back for an additional CUP.
A CUP was granted for Justin and Pam Brown, section 18, Arendahl Township, for an Agricultural Tourism Business. They are planning to start a corn maze and pick your own pumpkin patch to be open from late August through October.
•Approval was given to hire Tara Kraling as an accounting technician in the Administration Department, effective March 8.
Approval was given to hire Lindsi Engle as a replacement accounting technician in the Administration Department, effective April 5.
Approval was given to hire Joel Kroening as a replacement transfer station attendant in Sanitation, effective March 17.
Approval was given to hire Tyler Olson as a replacement facilities maintenance worker in Building Maintenance, effective March 17.
•The Family and Medical Leave policy was reaffirmed with no changes. The Holidays policy will be brought back for a second reading after one change.
•Eight 2021 Hauler’s Licenses were approved as requested by Drew Hatzenbihler, Sanitation. Two additional Hauler’s Licenses were approved provisionally, awaiting additional paperwork.
Leave a Reply