FAIRMONT– The Martin County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday considered suspending its contract with ICS– a construction firm that was working on the Justice Center project, which the county stopped work on last month.

County Attorney Taylor McGowan said the contract with ICS has a liquidated damages clause in it that say in case the contract is terminated for convenience, the county is responsible for 25 percent of unbilled fees. Based on preliminary calculations, that would amount to $331,728.50.

However, he said that ICS is willing to suspend the contract and allow the county to redefine the project under the contract.

“So instead of terminating them we’d have them on retainer for any future project. This would allow us to avoid incurring these liquidated damages,” McGowan said. “I think they saw it as a way of maintaining a working relationship with the county.”

He and County Coordinator Scott Higgins talked to some members of ICS who said they were open to the suspension being indefinite and would waive their right to terminate and get any fees.

County Commissioner Jaime Bleess said he thought this was important because with the lack of the county’s five year Capital Improvement Plan (which was discussed later), he said that there will likely be a county building project identified in the next five years that ICS could do.

“We have a lot of planning and work to do and suspending this project keeps them on retainer,” Bleess said.

He mad a motion to approve the suspension of the contract with ICS. Commissioner Joe Loughmiller seconded it.

Commissioner Kevin Kristenson asked McGowan if he felt comfortable with the move.

“It’s probably better to salvage the relationship we have and pause this instead of terminating and having a situation where they’re seeking $300,000 with us and we’re not happy with that,” McGowan said.

“This is just a good faith way to make sure we don’t flush $300,000 down the toilet,” Bleess said.

The motion passed unanimously.

In other business, the board considered undergoing a Local option Sales Tax (LOST) study, done by the University of Minnesota Extension Office, to determine how much a 1 percent sales tax would raise in Martin County.

Bleess said he had discussed it with County Assessor Mike Sheplee, who gave a brief presentation to the board. He said the cost of the study is $3,000 and the turnaround time for the study is about six to eight weeks.

Bleess said he wanted to move forward with the study in order to gather information.

Loughmiller asked when the last time something like this was done. Sheplee said there was a retail study for Walmart done in 2019, which excluded internet sales. Sheplee hadn’t done any studies prior to that.

“The new study is a little more focused for the purpose of deciding to pass a sales tax. If you decide to do that and go out to the public you’d be able to quote a more specific source, more directed toward what you could expect to collect,” Sheplee said.

Commissioner Billeye Rabbe asked if the moratorium on sales tax was lifted. Bleess said it has not been lifted yet but that he understands it is expected to be soon.

“I have trouble spending money on something we’re not sure they’re going to lift,” said Commissioner Richard Koons.

Rabbe asked whether they could project what the sales tax would generate from past studies. She pointed out that County Engineer Kevin Peyman–while giving an earlier presentation– gave a good look at what a half-cent sales tax, which would not need to go out for a vote, for roads and bridges could generate.

“It seems like it’s kind of a waste of money,” Rabbe said.

“Why in the world would you not spend $3,000 to get information on a tax that we’re considering applying to everybody in the county without them having to vote for it. We’re talking millions of dollars over the course of 30 years,” Bleess said.

He said that this is beyond a Justice Center project, but has more to do with future projects that could be identified in a five year Capital Improvement Plan.

“I don’t understand why we wouldn’t try to get as much information as we can at a bang for the buck price for all the information we would get. It doesn’t mean we would have to take any action, but then if something comes up that people want us to take action, we would have the information in front of us to know. The voters deserve that,” Bleess said.

Rabbe said she thought the whole thing was premature and that there were too many unknowns.

A motion to undergo the study failed 3-2 with Bleess and Loughmiler in favor of it.

In other news, the board:

— Recognized the retirement of of Greta Olson, communications officer. Olson put in 31 years and seven months of service.

— Heard a brief update from Tim Murray on the construction of and fundraising for the Bravo Zulu House.

— Heard from Luke Schweitzer of Avangrid who provided an overview of the Elm Creek II repower project.

— Approved Erosion Control Plus to be a licensed solid waste hauler in Martin County.

— Approved a tax abatement request from Andrew Challinor and Erika Englund for construction of a new single family home in Trimont.

— Heard a 2024 annual report from Library Director, Jenny Trushenski.

— Approved the hire of Jeramie Jones as new IT Director for the county.

— Approved the retirement resignation of Tamra Wohlhuter, full-time correctional officer, and authorized recruitment of the vacancy.

— Approved an out of state travel request for Luis Figueroa, K9 Deputy, at attend a training in early May in Illinois.

— Approved the purchase of a 2025 Dodge Ram from Millitello Motors for the maintenance department in the amount of $37,150.

— Approved a quote for concrete apron at the 1200 N. State Street facility from Sukalski Concrete Construction, LLC in the amount of $14,860.

— Approved a bid from Paulson Heating & Cooling, DeWar Electric and Paradis Construction & Remodeling for a new furnace and AC in the Auditor/Treasure’s office in the amount of $14,795.

— Heard a presentation from County Assessor, Mike Sheplee, on the 2025 assessment review.

–Heard a presentation from County Engineer, Kevin Peyman, regarding the possibility of using local option sales tax for transportation projects.

— In response to some departures from the Auditor/Treasurer’s office, approved and authorized the recruitment of two full-time positions.

— Had a brief discussion about updating its five year Capital Improvement Plan and passed a motion to have the County Coordinator set a building and purchasing committee meeting, on April 29, to review and establish the county’s five year CIP plan for board review on Sept. 1.