Commissioners to draft T21 ordinance

The Mower County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 to set the letting date for upcoming roadway projects to 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, during its regular meeting on Tuesday.

Third District Commissioner Jerry Reinartz was absent from the meeting.

Mower County Public Works Director Michal Hanson said the Public Works Department is looking to do roadway improvements at the following locations:

• County Road 21 from County Road 28 to a point 9,132 feet north thereof;

• County Road 28 from West County Line to Trunk Highway 105;

• County Road 4 from 1,630 feet west of County Road 7 to County Road 7;

• County Road 4 from County Road 7 to County Road 9;

• County Road 7 from 150th Street to County Road 3; and

• County Road 9 from South County Line to County Road 6.

The letting date also applies to new bridge projects in Dexter, Leroy, Marshall, Udolpho and Windom Townships.

The board also voted in favor of drafting and holding a public hearing on a T21 ordinance to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products in Mower County to 21.

Although federal law recently raised the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21, Mower County Sheriff Steve Sandvik said that state and local law enforcement cannot enforce federal laws, only state and local laws.

“If someone reports a gas station in Austin is selling tobacco products to someone who’s 18, we can do something because Austin has an ordinance,” Sandvik said, speaking on behalf of the Austin Area Drug Task Force.

Sandvik noted that several Mower County communities without ordinances are already complying with T21, while others are considering adopting similar ordinances.

T21 only applies to the purchase age of tobacco products; individuals aged 18 years and older may still legally possess tobacco products.