The Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition asked the Freeborn County Board of Commissioners Tuesday to consider purchasing the parking lot for $1 at the site of the expected new MercyOne Clinic and then supporting the clinic’s efforts through upgrades to the lot.

Coalition board member Steve Tufte said the organization has a purchase agreement and hopes to close on the purchase of the former Herberger’s building for the clinic in February. He said the goal is to begin renovations in April and open the clinic in the fourth quarter.

Tufte said the coalition has aimed to raise $4.8 million and so far has $3.6 million in cash and pledges. This includes $1.25 million in business pledges and donations by more than 300 citizens.

Tufte said there was a recent meeting that Freeborn County and Albert Lea officials attended with the coalition, where they talked about ways the city and county could contribute to the project.

The coalition had previously come before the board, hoping to get $470,000 between the city and county. At a later meeting, Freeborn County Attorney David Walker stated the request did not meet criteria by statute for the county to contribute to the coalition. He said a county must have legal authorization for its public expenditures and that anything a public expenditure is paying for has to serve a public purpose.

Tufte said if the county could take on the parking lot, which is expected to cost $320,000 to repair, that would cover a significant amount of the $1.2 million that still needs to be raised.

The issue will be discussed in further detail at a board workshop at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 28 in the Freeborn Room of the Freeborn County Courthouse.

In other action, the board:

• Discussed refugee resettlement and President Donald Trump’s executive order in September that required local entities to give written consent before refugees could resettle there.

Counties had been required to decide on the issue until U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Maryland last week temporarily blocked Trump’s order, stating it “does not appear to serve the overall public interest.” The case was brought by several of the resettlement placement agencies.

The issue will now likely be tied up in the court system for a few years, said Freeborn County Commissioner Chris Shoff.

Freeborn County Administrator Tom Jensen said Freeborn County presently has three resettled refugees receiving aid. In 2018, there were six. He noted there was nothing that holds refugees to the place where they were initially resettled.

The commissioners watched an excerpt from a webinar about the resettlement process with Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration and cross-border policy with the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Brown said refugees go through an extensive process before they arrive in the United States, including interviews, background checks and other approval. No one with a history of serious crimes is allowed to resettle into the country.

She said numerous agencies are involved in the process, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; the State Department; the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration; the Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Health and Human Services; the Office of Refugee Resettlement; reception and placement agencies; and states and localities.

The commissioners said they would hold off on voting on the issue until it is completed with the court process.

• Appointed Jaci Koeppen to the position of county assessor after the resignation of Ryan Rasmusson. Koeppen has worked for the Freeborn County Assessor’s Office since October 2005 and fills all the requirements necessary for the position, Jensen said. It will next be approved at the state level.

• Renewed a contract with Cedar Valley Services to provide community and facility-based extended employment for individuals with certified disabilities that prevent them from active participation in the competitive labor market and who may need additional support to maintain employment activities.

The budgeted amount for this contract is not to exceed $82,300.

• Approved a resolution applying for funding from the Secretary of State for electronic rosters.

Freeborn County Auditor-Treasurer Pat Martinson said the state grant would cover about $45,000 of the voting equipment and the county would match with about $11,400.

• Designated $140,0000 — $70,000 for 2019 and $70,000 for 2020 — to be used for IT hardware replacement.

• Designated $150,000 of wind development fees from the Freeborn Wind Farm to be used for capital expenses. The one-time fee is to offset staff time and resources to be used during the project and is separate from the fees and permitting that Xcel Energy will pay for costs related to the highway and public works departments.

• Approved Kara Bendickson to fill Koeppen’s appraiser position. Bendickson has worked in a senior office support specialist position since January 2018 and has been trained as an appraiser. The board approved filling Bendickson’s former office support specialist position.

• Approved filling a public works mechanic position that was vacated permanently after a medical leave.

• Approved a resignation from Aileen Motz with Freeborn County Public Health, effective Jan. 24, and approved filling the vacancy.

• Appointed Cindy Golbuff and Margo Wayne to the Freeborn County Extension Services Advisory Committee for a three-year term.

• Accepted three donations totaling $370 to the Crime Victims Crisis Center.

• Approved repairs to county ditch No. 15.

• Approved the board’s various appointments to committees and organizations for the year.