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Shifting speeds [The Daily Globe, Worthington, Minn. :: ](Daily Globe, The (Worthington, MN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 09--WORTHINGTON -- With the completion of Minnesota 60 through Worthington and reconstruction of Nobles County State Aid Highway 35 in recent years, Public Works Director Stephen Schnieder asked county commissioners Tuesday for permission to have the Minnesota Department of Transportation conduct a speed study on local roads leading into Worthington's city limits. 0 Talk about it "Now that work has been completed, it will be a good time to look at the speeds coming into town," Schnieder told commissioners. Among the roads he will suggest MnDOT study are Nobles County 57 and the old Minnesota 60 highway on Worthington's south side, highways 5 and 35 on the east side of town, Nobles County State Aid Highway 25 toward Reading and highways 10 and 35 on the west side of town. Schnieder said MnDOT was already scheduled to conduct a speed study north of town. "There is no cost to this," he said. "We make a request to the Minnesota Commissioner of Transportation and they come in and conduct it." Commissioner Matt Widboom said he hears the most concern about speed on CSAH 10 (Crailsheim Drive), from near Olson Park north to CSAH 35. Schnieder said MnDOT will consider the route, the number of driveways and the current speed of motorists in determining whether to maintain, raise or lower the posted speed limit. Commissioners approved the request to have MnDOT conduct the speed study. "To me, this is a no-brainer," said Commissioner Bob Demuth Jr. In other action, the board: --Approved property tax abatements through the Nobles Home Initiative for Johnson Builders and Realty Inc. to construct a tri-plex on two vacant lots in the Homewood Hills Addition. This is the sixth application received thus far for the tax abatement program, with a total of 12 units (individual homes and condos) planned for construction within Nobles County. --Appointed Chris Dybevick as Nobles County Chief Deputy to replace Chris Heinrichs, who retired in May. Dybevick is currently a captain in the Worthington Police Department, where he has worked for the past 27 years. Dybevick's salary will correspond with the appropriate grade and step for the position, and commissioners approved 80 hours of banked vacation time for him. He is slated to begin his new duties Aug. 7. --Met with Kurt Deter, an attorney with Rinke-Noonan Law Firm of St. Cloud, regarding his services as the county begins the process of reassessing ditch benefits. Deter's services will be held on retainer at a cost of $200 per month to the county. That cost covers phone calls and short-response emails and assistance with simple questions. An hourly rate would be charged for extended services. --Directed county staff to draft a letter to Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie regarding the loss of local control pertaining to a contract the state had with the county recorder's office to conduct universal commercial code requests and data searches. The state legislature voted to eliminate state contracts with counties for the service this past legislative session. The contract termination, set for later this year, will result in the loss of an estimated $7,000 for the recorder's office, according to Nobles County Recorder Lynn Wilson. n Recognized William Klumpp of the Minnesota Attorney General's Office for his work on two Nobles County cases, including the Josue Fraga murder trial. Klumpp was presented a plaque by Nobles County Attorney Kathleen Kusz. --Approved funds for stair and hand rail improvements in the two stair towers of the Nobles County Government Center. The estiamted architectural and design costs are $22,000. --Approved conditional use permits on recommendation of the Nobles County Planning Commission for Trent Slater, Rushmore, to move in four barns and convert them to calf housing in the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 13, Larkin Township; and for the Knips Brothers of Magnolia to construct a 68- by 464-foot deep pitted cattle barn in the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 31, Lismore Township. --Approved a conditional use permit for Richard Zebe, Adrian, to construct a 102 feet by 192 feet deep-pitted hog finishing barn in the southwest quarter of Section 5, Grand Prairie Township. Steve and Michael Ashby were on hand to express their concerns with the location of the barn on a gravel-surface road. The road has springs in it, said Steve Ashby, and travel is difficult in the spring of the year. With feed trucks and manure hauling, he was concerned it would tear the road up. "We don't care if they put the building up, but we would prefer it be on a hard surface road," he said. Paul Zebe said there is a hard-surface road half a mile from the site. He said while at barn on a hard-surfaced road was desired, this was the property available for construction the barn. --Approved the advertisement for bids for two county bridge replacements and replacement of a third on a Seward Township road south of Fulda. The bridges are located on CSAH 17, five miles south of Adrian, CSAH 1, five miles north of Brewster, and in Section 2 of Seward Township. Bid opening is slated for Aug. 4. --Learned that rural address signage is going up across the county, with crews working to get them installed at all sites within a week. --Approved a list of job descriptions following a report on a comparable worth study conducted for Nobles County. County employees will have three weeks to challenge their job description if they find it isn't a good representation of the work they perform. --Presented the June Excellence in Performance award to Angelo Torres, director of the county's information technology department. Daily Globe Reporter Julie Buntjer may be reached at 376-7330. ___ (c)2014 The Daily Globe (Worthington, Minn.) Visit The Daily Globe (Worthington, Minn.) at www.dglobe.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |