BLUE EARTH– The road and highway construction season for this year has finally come to an end was the news Public Works director April Wellman had for the Faribault County Board of Commissioners at its meeting on Tuesday.

“Work was completed on the installation of the box culvert by Bricelyn at the end of last week,” Wellman reported. “We are now working on preparing for next year’s projects. We are also bidding the lighting project for the intersection of County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 16 and CSAH 17. We began advertising for bids on Nov. 4. The bids will be opened on Dec. 11, and awarded at the Dec. 17 meeting.”

Bolton and Menk engineer Derek Behrens joined Wellman in leading a discussion on a request for a variance for the CSAH 56 reconstruction project scheduled to be worked on in Bricelyn next year.

“CSAH 56 will have a total reconstruction including pavement, curb and gutter, pedestrian facility upgrades, stormwater drainage and utility improvements between County Road 2 and Fourth Street,” Wellman commented. “Bolton and Menk is working with the city to replace/upgrade the sanitary sewer and watermain infrastructure as part of the county project.”

The variance is needed for the street width and parking.

“The State of Minnesota requires a parking stall depth of 20 feet for a diagonal parking stall at a 45-degree angle,” Behrens said. “We are asking for a variance to allow for a stall depth of 18 feet.”

Behrens provided a drawing to the County Board which showed the current sidewalks along the streets are 10 feet wide, the driving lanes are each 11 feet wide and the angled parking stalls are 18 feet deep.

“What we are proposing is to have nine foot sidewalks, 12 foot driving lanes and parking stalls that are 18-feet deep,” Behrens stated. “If we were to follow the state standards, the sidewalk width would be reduced to approximately 7.33 feet on both sides of the street. We feel the extra width provided by the variance will provide better ADA accommodation and a safer walkway for pedestrians in the downtown area.”

The commissioners agreed and approved a motion asking the state for a variance for the depth of the parking stalls.

Also at the meeting, Sheriff Mike Gormley was recognized for his 30 years of service to Faribault County.

The board also:

— Approved a gambling permit for Ride 2 Remember to conduct a raffle on April 13, 2025.

— Approved the training requests of Kasta Amundson of the Sheriff’s Department to attend a seminar put on by the Minnesota Crisis Intervention Team dealing with mental health awareness for dispatchers and Megan Cook of the Extension office to attend the Southeastern Minnesota Extension County Support Staff Professional Development Day.