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Lincoln Co. considers new partnerships

IVANHOE — The Lincoln County Board voiced interest at Tuesday’s meeting in joining two additional multi-county regional partnerships.

Dan Larson of the Minnesota Rural Counties association met with the board, presented a letter of greeting from a Moorhead area Polk County commissioner who chairs the MRC board, and invited Lincoln County to become a member. The possibility of joining the multi-county Minnesota Highway 23 coalition was brought to the full board by Commissioner Mic VanDeVere of Tyler.

In a presentation of about 20 minutes, Larson said MRC could offer a valuable opportunity for Lincoln County with one of the smallest populations among all 87 in Minnesota to have a stronger voice in statewide policy-making.

“Divisions in Minnesota’s Legislature go metro and rural almost as much as they go along party lines,” he said. “Our member counties want to elevate our profile, tell people about rural issues. The general public in the Twin Cities metro area doesn’t often get a chance to hear rural points of view.”

As an example, he provided copies of editorials written or co-sponsored by MRC about rural access to broadband telecommunications. They were aimed to share stories of average people who are left “on the dark side of the moon in this wired economy.”

He noted that MRC has expanded its membership in the past 22 years, mostly by progressing southward in the western half of the state. The member counties closest to the Twin Cities out of the 31 that belong are Wright, McLeod and Sibley counties.

The closest members to Lincoln County are Big Stone, Redwood and Cottonwood counties.

“I’ve been looking forward to this (Lincoln County) presentation for a long time,” Larson said. ” Our membership has been moving in this direction. We have several nearby counties and others who have many of the same common interests.”

Lincoln County’s membership cost per year would be $2,200, which is the lowest tier given to counties with less than 10,000 residents.

A handout with seven statements of support, from six Minnesota county commissioners and a county coordinator, mentioned often receiving several legislative updates in a single day, advocacy for a three-zone set of state wetland regulations instead of one-size-fits-all, and equitable statewide funding of parks and trails.

Lincoln County Board members voiced enthusiasm for information presented on Tuesday. They plan to discuss whether or not to join MRC after allowing time for more research.

VanDeVere asked the rest of the board to consider Minnesota Highway 23 coalition membership since Lincoln County is the only one with Highway 23 frontage that’s not a member.

The highway crosses into Lincoln County for less than a mile in Hope Township, which includes Tyler. It serves, however, as an artery for traffic that uses all three major Lincoln County highways — U.S. Highway 75, U.S. Highway 14, and Minnesota Highway 19.

VanDeVere asked for a consensus from the board to join the coalition, which led to agreement provided that membership costs are affordable. A formal motion with the cost to join is expected at a future meeting.

“It’s not like we don’t use Highway 23,” VanDeVere said. “There’s something to be said for getting every county along the highway involved. For people who don’t know the exact geography, it demonstrates a stronger show of support.”

In other highway business, the board approved three low bids as part of Lincoln County Highway Engineer Joe Wilson’s agenda items.

Bids were awarded to the Stonebrook company for hydraulic testing of 11 local bridges at a cost of $15,874, AAA Striping Service for pavement striping at a cost of $34,589, and to A&C Excavating for township bridge improvements in three locations at a cost of $590,919.

Wilson advised the board that the low bid exceeded his estimate by almost 12 percent (a $62,217 total). He recommended approval, however, given trends seen in other similar region-wide projects.

“It’s a little over the estimate, but consistent with the trend,” Wilson said. “Bids have been higher than expected, both because of a busy summer work schedule and the cost of construction materials.

Commissioner Joe Drietz of rural Ivanhoe voiced support for approval, noting that he’s not surprised by the high bid result.

“Almost every road and bridge project I’ve seen in area counties has had estimates that turned out low,” Drietz said. “The costs have been going up.”

Lincoln County Environmental Officer Robert Olsen informed commissioners that an easement agreement for the Hendricks recycling collection area is almost complete with the signing of a 10-year lease for the county by the Hendricks Farmers Lumber company.

Hendricks City Administrator David Blees said Tuesday afternoon that the Hendricks City Council is supportive of the recycling location, but needed to research property ownership before a final vote for approval.

The plan requires a commitment from the city to adequately maintain the access roadway to the recycling location. It will see moderate but hopefully steady usage by the general public.

Hendricks City Attorney John Engels of Minneota researched the ownership status of the roadway, but did not find any guarantee of public access.

“We needed to know as much as we could about the ownership status before voting to support the county’s request,” Blees said. “There hasn’t been any objection by property owners. They’re all commercial and industrial, so it’s seen as a logical place. It’s taken extra time this summer to guard against the possibility for unexpected issues.”

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