Wright County sees probable extension of coronavirus orders to June

Sensing a probable need to extend the county’s coronavirus-related regulations out at least a couple of more weeks, the members of the Wright County Board of Commissioners spent a few minutes at their regular board meeting on Tuesday getting updates and thinking about the month ahead.  Specifically, they selected Friday, May 15, as a date for a special meeting, at which it may be necessary to extend the county’s special COVID-19 orders until June.

The discussion about the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on Wright County’s citizens and employees was quite short, sandwiched between equally-short discussions of various items on a brief agenda on Tuesday morning.

Asked to update the commissioners on the county’s post-COVID-19 reopening, Administrator Lee Kelly reported that numerous modifications are being made at the government center in an effort to protect workers and citizens. “There’s still a lot going on in preparations for what we do moving forward,” Kelly said. “Some of the major things that we are working on in modifications to the facility are not probably going to be ready until June.”

Presently, most public windows at the Wright County Government Center are closed to the public, leaving interaction only via telephone, computer, mail or drop boxes. In addition, the majority of the county’s employees are being asked to work remotely from their homes, as the county joins the nation in fighting the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.  These actions presently are set to expire on Monday, May 18, which coincides with a statewide stay-at-home order issued by Gov. Tim Walz.

At Tuesday morning’s meeting, commissioners appeared to agree that Gov. Walz will likely extend the order, albeit with some relaxing of the rules, and that the county would likely follow suit.

Kelly continued, “I am anticipating, as this continues to develop on a daily basis, that we’ll be discussing this at some point at our workshop next week, because we will need to make some determinations at that time if we are going to be extending past the 18th. Many of the jurisdictions that I have spoken with are already planning for that to be the case.”

Commissioners agreed, but decided instead to set a special meeting on the 15th, just ahead of the present expiration date, so that they would have as much information and input as possible before debating the extension of the date.

Pointing out that Gov. Walz will likely be announcing new information before the present stay-at-home orders expires, Commissioner Darek Vetsch noted, “Depending upon what the governor does again, we’re kind of bound by these.”

Administrator Kelly agreed, “We can choose what we decide to do, but we have definitely tied our direction moving forward based on the guidance that the governor has provided.”

In addition, some of the changes in the government center include departments that are tied directly or indirectly to the state, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles office, located in the Government Center, that Kelly highlighted as one of the departments that is seeing significant modifications, in part because of an anticipated rush in use after the stay-at-home orders are erased.

Commending the county board, Kelly stated, “We are following the governor’s advice that’s being put out but ultimately the county needs to decide what we want to do and how we want to do it. Certainly we want to be keeping the public as well as our staff safe.”

Indicating that the county would follow the state’s lead in taking a phased approach to reopening, Kelly added that the county’s staff has still been able to conduct most business, and that some things that cannot be done are due to the state not allowing it.

Amplifying that, Commissioner Vetsch remarked, “I just want to clarify, because I know there are a lot of people who have watched or heard this stuff, because I get the emails. At a county level, we have no control over your restaurants or your businesses opening or closing. I’ve gotten a number of emails from people saying, ‘Why are you following the governor’s orders?’ I can’t change the governor’s orders. What I could tell you would mean nothing. You still would be breaking state law.”

Chairperson Christine Husom commended the county’s communications specialist for keeping the public informed on the county’s website, and she suggested that citizens keep themselves informed by accessing information on the website or by calling the proper department.

The special COVID-19 meeting on May 15 will start at 10 a.m.

In other action at Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners formally resolved to support the South Fork Crow One Watershed Plan, after hearing a very brief report from Alicia O’Hare, water resource specialist from the Wright County Soil and Water Conservation District. Doing so, said O’Hare, supports the application being done by the McLeod Soil and Water Conservation District and Buffalo Creek Watershed District for a planning grant from the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources to initiate the development of a Watershed One Plan for the South Fork Watershed District.

Commissioner Charles Borrell explained that a southern portion of Wright County is within the South Fork Watershed District. He went on to mention that offering support at this time reciprocates past support in the establishment of the North Fork Crow One Watershed Plan.

In 2012, state legislation was passed to help natural resource managers create consistency in water planning and to consolidate the 200-plus plans by a multitude of entities down to about 80 plans based on the major watersheds present in Minnesota. The North Fork Crow River, which passes through the center of the county, became one of the five pilot projects in the state.

The South Fork Crow River Watershed encompassed 818,000 acres through parts of Kandiyohi, Renville, Meeker, McLeod, Sibley, Wright, Carver and Hennepin Counties. The South Fork Crow River, which delineates some of the southeastern border of Wright County, joins the North fork Crow River in Rockford. It then flows north, again along the county border, to meet up with the Mississippi River near Dayton.

Among other discussion and action, commissioners:

• Resolved to designate the week of May 3-9 as National Corrections Officers Week. The resolution was read to the board by Capt. Patrick O’Malley of the Wright County Sheriff’s Office Jail Division. “I’m happy always to see this every year and to recognize the efforts because it is a very tough job,” said Chairperson Husom.

• Approved an agreement for the Fallon Avenue State Park Road Project with Monticello Township. This agreement outlines the funding participation, construction and maintenance responsibilities between Monticello Township and Wright County for the Fallon Avenue NE improvements. The township, with support from the county, was successful in receiving a grant totaling $292,836 for the improvements on the township road from CSAH 37 and south 2,670 feet. The project includes construction of a right-turn lane and by-pass lane on CSAH 37 at the Fallon Avenue intersection. The township approved this agreement at their meeting on Monday, April 20.

• Approved an agreement for the CSAH 30 Road Project with the city of Delano. The city awarded the low bid to GMH Asphalt for $3,198,559, which was 8.2 percent lower than the engineer’s estimate for the reconstruction project, and subject to county approval.

All five county commissioners were present at the meeting, with Commissioner Borrell participating remotely.

Publication: 

The Drummer and The Wright County Journal Press

PO Box 159
108 Central Ave.
Buffalo MN 55313

www.thedrummer.com

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