Two bridges along a much-used Marshall Township gravel road will be replaced.

Wednesday, June 14, 2000

Two bridges along a much-used Marshall Township gravel road will be replaced.

Installed only earlier this year, the bridges were casualties of the twin May rainstorms which caused serious flooding.

Locals believed the design plan was inadequate for the amount of water the twin creeks serves, when the culverts were installed and the rainfall in May exceeded those design specifications, causing the road to be closed.

Michael Hanson, county engineer, explained the work to be done in Section 3 of Marshall Township to the Mower County Board of Commissioners, who met Tuesday at the government center in Austin.

According to Hanson, the Minnesota Department of Transportation will allow the repairs to be made with designated town bridge money, but only eligible items will be paid.

That includes the stabilization of the embankments, removing sediment in the creek beds and rip-rap around the culvert inlets/outlets.

"We have up to $20,000 to spend," Hanson told the commissioners. "The township will have to restore the roadway and do regrading as needed."

With little discussion, the county commissioners unanimously approved Hanson’s recommendation to have the Marshall Township bridges repaired.

Hanson also informed the commissioners Tuesday, the 1895 law which calls for Mower County to be responsible for every bridge in the county will be reviewed.

The crux of the MnDOT’s sudden discontent over the antiquated law is the so-called "Sinclair bridge" in Austin across the Cedar River at Fourth Street NE.

According to Hanson, the bridge’s structural integrity came into question a year ago and its traffic lanes were reduced until a design plan was prepared and approved for the bridge.

That has been done and the state has agreed to pay 100 percent of the costs, but Hanson said, "It’s for one-time only. They indicated they won’t be doing that again."

Among the options are special legislation to repeal the 1895 law, which allows municipalities in the county, specifically Austin, to receive repairs to bridges in the city made at no cost to the city despite the overwhelming city benefits.

Hanson said a meeting would be scheduled soon to examine the situation.

Also Tuesday, the commissioners received a request from Blooming Prairie Center Inc., to be included in the county’s annual budget.

Long before Apex Austin Inc. or the county’s own multi-cultural coordinator, the Blooming Prairie-based not-for-profit agency was assisting Hispanics in the area.

Today, the agency’s client list includes 10 percent from Mower County due to the large numbers of Hispanics moving into the community.

According to Ardis Knudtson, chairperson of the Blooming Prairie Center Inc.’s board of directors, the agency operates with a budget of $91,555 for multi-cultural activities, including $32,000 of the amount for outreach activities.

It is asking for a $1,500-a-year contract with Mower County to help pay for the services it provides Hispanics living in Mower County.

Craig Oscarson, county coordinator, said the request will be studied later this year, when fiscal 2001 budgeting begins.

In other action Tuesday, the county commissioners:

n Scheduled a meeting to begin at 7 p.m. Thursday to discuss a possible uniform building code for Mower County. City, township and county officials, as well as private contractors, will meet to discuss the issue in the commissioners’ meeting room at the government center.

n Approved an agreement with Hormel Foods Corp. delineating responsibilities of the county and the company, concerning the common wall and property line at the former Kmart building on Main Street North, where the company is building a new museum, archives headquarters and general offices.

n Agreed to meet with Mower County Fair Board to discuss fencing issues on the west side of the fairgrounds in Austin.

n Acknowledged the Minnesota Department of Health’s recognition of the Mower County Department of Public Health for local efforts, during an outbreak of the hepatitis A virus and the vaccination of 45 people with the immune globulin serum.

n Reviewed a request from John Radner, the region’s sentencing to service supervisor, to seek more funds to form a joint Freeborn-Mower juvenile offenders’ sentence to serve crew in 2001.

n Approved a development agreement with the city of Austin, Austin Utilities, Austin Township and the county, concerning the proposed improvement project to begin this summer in the Dinsmoor Acres residential subdivision at the south edge of Austin. The area has been a Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services service area, but will be served by Austin Utilities when the area is annexed into the city of Austin.

n Formally adopted a disaster declaration requested by Bob Nelson, Austin-Mower County emergency preparedness director. The declaration is a formality in the process of seeking state and federal funds to help recover from the recently damages caused by flooding.