Friday, August 11, 2000

The Mower County Board of Commissioners formally accepted a half-million dollars in Mighty Ducks grant monies Tuesday for a new multipurpose building at the county fairgrounds.

The board members gave their unanimous approval to a contract with the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission. The county will receive $500,000 total in two separate grants.

The new building would have two sheets of ice and replace the city’s Riverside Arena as the only indoor ice skating facility in Austin and all of Mower County.

Bid specifications are expected this fall and it is possible a contract could be let in early 2001 to begin construction of the building.

The new facility would house the Austin Youth Hockey Association, Riverside Figure Skating Club and Austin High School varsity coed hockey programs and also be available for public skating.

In addition, it could house indoor events, such as livestock shows and concert events now performed before the grandstands at the fairgrounds.

Also Tuesday, the county commissioners delayed action on a recommendation from the Mower County Planning Commission.

The board members decided they wanted to see in person the site proposed by Dan Hodgman in Red Rock Township for a new nine-hole golf course and residential development.

The county planners voted a week ago to deny the conditional use permit request from Hodgman.

The commissioners will tour the site Aug. 22 before reconvening for a public hearing on Hodgman’s request.

In other action Tuesday, the county commissioners:

n Approved budget amendments, transferring monies from the canteen fund in the county jail account to be used for a digital informant telephone enhancement to monitor prisoners’ calls; criminal law books for prisoners, who would not have to be moved to the law library in the lower level of the courthouse when researching their cases; and a maintenance agreement for telecommunications equipment in the Austin-Mower County Law Enforcement Center. Another amendment for new software programming also was approved for the county auditor’s budget.

n Agreed to extend the deadline to Aug. 15 to offer free water tests from owners of private wells who believe their water could have been contaminated by the high waters after the July 10 flooding.

n Approved a request from the Mower County Fair Board to pay for fixing a fish tank at the wildlife-habitat building in the amount of $1,100.