At the November 28 Fillmore County board meeting, Social Services Director Wanda Berg explained there will be value for both clients and the county to have adult mental health services provided in-house. Adult mental health case management services have been provided by Zumbro Valley Mental Health. This contract will not be renewed. Services provided by the county for Fillmore … [Read more...]

The Fillmore County Planning Commission met on November 16 to consider an application for a condition use permit submitted by TowerNorth to build a telecommunications tower in Section 22 of Chatfield Township. During a June 8 public hearing before the Board of Adjustment, Alex Trueman, TowerNorth, had requested and received a variance for the telecommunications tower. At that … [Read more...]

Carter Grupp and Chris Koneche, Finley Engineering Company Inc., and Nicole Schulte, Spring Grove Communications, requested support for their Border-to-Border broadband application at the board’s November 7 meeting. They want to apply for state and federal assistance for an area with low density passings (2.4 per mile), including 216 farms, 29 businesses, and 295 households. … [Read more...]

At the October 24 meeting of the county board, a proposed agreement concerning a Preston forfeiture property was discussed. The former Preston Oil site (119 Mill Street SW) went into tax forfeiture in 2018. The city of Preston has since had the underground tanks removed. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has monitored the site, and a mitigation plan has been … [Read more...]

At the September 26 meeting of the county board, Blake Lea was hired to fill the newly created position of Land Use Director, effective September 29. In August the board voted to restructure the Zoning Department, which was supported by the current Zoning Administrator Cristal Adkins. This day, the new job classification for Assistant Land Use Director was approved. Approval … [Read more...]

At the September 12 county board meeting, a resolution was adopted approving the property tax abatement related to Lamon Housing Project (developers Richard and Cheryl Lamon) in the city of Lanesboro. A public hearing was held during which there was no comment from the public. Mike Bubany, David Drown Associates, Inc., presented the basics of the plan. This project has a … [Read more...]

At the August 22 meeting of the county board, Miranda Wendlandt, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, presented the audit for the year ending on December 31, 2022. The audit was issued on August 3, which is well ahead of the September 30 deadline. An unmodified (“clean”) opinion was issued on the financial statements, which is the highest level of assurance. Wendlandt listed some control … [Read more...]

At the August 8 board meeting, County Administrator Bobbie Hillery suggested a detailed plan to restructure the Zoning Office. The board had just approved the retirement of Kristi Ruesink, accounting technician, with thanks for her 35 years of service, effective January 4, 2024. She was thanked especially for the advanced notice of her retirement. Hillery said there have … [Read more...]

Fillmore County Children’s Mental Health case workers made their first presentation to the county board at the August 1 meeting. The county terminated its contract with Hiawatha Valley Mental Health in Winona on May 1. The county now provides children’s mental health services. The Fillmore County Children’s Mental Health team includes caseworkers Ashley Greden, Andrea … [Read more...]

Four departmental budgets were reviewed at the county board’s July 25 meeting. Terry Schultz, Facilities Maintenance supervisor, detailed budgets for the Building Maintenance department and Infrastructure. The proposed Building Maintenance budget is about $20,000 higher than the 2023 budget, or $563,195 for 2024. The increase is mostly due to gross salaries and the county … [Read more...]