County engineer hopes for new location

Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 23, 2001

The county highway engineer’s office wants to move out of downtown so it can be close to the county shop, but commissioners said budget constraints mean any change will likely have to be incorporated into a courthouse plan.

Thursday, August 23, 2001

The county highway engineer’s office wants to move out of downtown so it can be close to the county shop, but commissioners said budget constraints mean any change will likely have to be incorporated into a courthouse plan.

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Highway Engineer Sue Miller told county commissioners Monday that she wants to see her department come together geographically.

&uot;It gives us the benefit of unifying our department, where it can operate at a more efficient level,&uot; Miller said.

Commissioners agreed to the idea in principle.

&uot;I feel that, personally, the highway department office should be with the rest of the shop,&uot; said Commissioner Glen Mathiason. &uot;I don’t see that it would cause any problems to the rest of our discussions on the courthouse.&uot;

The county shop is located on Bridge Avenue a half-mile north of I-90

Chairman Dave Mullenbach said this year’s county budget has no room for the expense. &uot;Our tax levies are limited,&uot; he said. &uot;And to go and bond for it, we’re going to have to bundle all these things together.&uot;

The county would incur fixed costs each time it issued bonds to raise money for capital improvements, such as a new engineer’s office or new courthouse facilities. It makes sense to bond for many things at once to save on the fixed costs, he said.

Miller told the board she hoped her department’s shrewd financial management would provide a source for the needed funds. By starting road projects early and investing part of the funding while it’s waiting to be completed, the county earns extra cash that ends up in the general fund, Miller said.

Using that method, the department has raised as much as $75,000 from a single large road project, Miller told the board.

But Mullenbach said other departments are strapped for cash and that it was not likely that money could be returned to the engineering budget.

In other county board news this week:

n The board approved a conditional use permit by Precision Pork for the construction of a 78-by-228-foot total confinement barn with to house 981 swine over 300 pounds and 30 swine between 55 and 300 pounds, as well as a 72-by-184-foot total confinement barn to house 168 swine over 300 pounds. The move was recommended by the planning commission.

Commissioners and environmental services staff said the owners of the property have never received a complaint and have a reputation for running a clean operation.

n The county approved the creation of a new Albert Lea Lake advisory committee to comply with the conditions of an agreement with the state Board of Water and Soil Resources. Environmental services will contact six local groups and ask for a representative, then return their recommendations the the board.

The committee will report to the county’s water planning advisory board.

n Lois Ahern of public health told the board her department needed to write off $38,283 in uncollectible accounts.

The money cannot be collected because the accounts – many related to medical assistance programs – are too old or the patient has died and left no assets to pay the claims.

&uot;These kind of accounts are very old for us to collect,&uot; she said. &uot;We’ve done everything we can.&uot;

She assured the commissioners that the accounting department would work vigilantly to keep accounts from falling through the cracks, but said any agency experiences some loss because of uncollectible accounts.