At the December 17 meeting of the Fillmore County Board, the final 2020 budget and levy was approved with no real changes from the preliminary numbers. County Administrator Bobbie Vickerman reported the numbers: the total 2020 budget is $32,872,530, which includes the tax levy, other sources of revenue, and state and federal funding. The final levy payable in 2020 totals … [Read more...]

Brenda Pohlman, Public Health educator, updated commissioners on the growing trend of electronic vaping devices and the growing use of these devices by young people at the December 3 County Board meeting. Pohlman brought a number of devices, most of which had been confiscated in local schools, to show the variety of devices available. The battery operated electronic devices … [Read more...]

Fillmore County held its Truth in Taxation public hearing on December 3. This hearing is required by state law and is to be held after proposed tax notices for the coming year are sent out. It is an opportunity for property owners to participate and discuss budget and tax issues before the final levy is adopted. Several people who showed up for the hearing were there to … [Read more...]

EDA Director Marty Walsh summarized the recently completed Fillmore County Housing Study at the county board’s November 12 meeting. Maxfield Research and Consulting, LLC prepared the housing study analysis. It concludes with recommendations on the types of housing needed in the county, both now and in the future. The summary begins with an analysis of the county’s … [Read more...]

At the November 5 County Board meeting, Brandon Schad, Minnesota DNR, notified the board of a property donation to be added to the DNR Beaver Creek Wildlife Management Area. The donation of 52.81 acres is from Pheasants Forever, having received an appropriation from the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage (Legacy) Council funding for the land purchase. The board does not have to … [Read more...]

Travis Gransee, director of Dodge-Fillmore-Olmsted (DFO) Community Corrections, highlighted juvenile probation data at the October 22 county board meeting. Gransee pointed out that there was an increase in the number of juvenile clients in Fillmore County in 2019 (44 in 2018 and 51 in 2019). His data showed that there was a significant percentage decrease in both Dodge and … [Read more...]

Sheriff John DeGeorge pointed out the benefits of subscribing to a CodeRed Emergency Public Notification System at the county board’s October 8 meeting. He acknowledged that the county had first subscribed to a CodeRed system when Daryl Jensen was sheriff. At some point the sheriff’s office stopped using it and the subscription was not renewed in 2018. DeGeorge said paying … [Read more...]

Savion, headquartered in Lenexa, Kans., is proposing the development of a utility-scale solar project in Beaver Township, Section 14. Fillmore County Solar Project, LLC is expected to be a 45 MW solar energy facility. Local residents were invited to a meeting held at the United Methodist Church in Spring Valley on October 9 to learn more about the project and to get their … [Read more...]

Nathan Barker, Fraud Prevention Investigator for a five county region, updated the Fillmore County Board on dollars saved due to fraud prevention efforts, regarding public assistance programs. Commissioner Randy Dahl was absent. Barker is the fraud investigator for Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Wabasha, and Winona Counties. He noted 10 cases were referred to him from Fillmore … [Read more...]

At the September 24 meeting of the Fillmore County Board, County Coordinator Bobbie Vickerman reviewed 2020 budget and levy numbers. The county recorder and the auditor/treasurer had included in their budgets funding for one full-time position in each department. The final levy numbers did not include funding for either of these full-time positions. It did, however, include … [Read more...]

At the September 19 meeting of the Fillmore County Planning Commission a public hearing was held on a zoning ordinance amendment to Section 604.05, Performance Standards in the Ag District.  Zoning Administrator Cristal Adkins stated the current requirement, that new dwellings can not be constructed on land with a Crop Equivalency Rating (CER) of greater than 65, has been … [Read more...]