Goodhue County Board briefs

Lake Byllesby Park property decision tabled again

A decision that was tabled at the County Board meeting Nov. 20 was once again pushed back Thursday.

Commissioners decided they still don’t have enough information to determine whether they should spend $254,000 to purchase a portion of land near Lake Byllesby Park that might allow for extension of the Mill Towns State Trail.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources needs the northern portion of a piece of land to continue the trail, but the property owner won’t split up his land. As a result, the DNR is asking Goodhue County to purchase the southern portion.

Commissioners are hesitant to spend money before the DNR obtains all of the easements needed to extend the Mill Towns Trail all the way to Highway 52.

“I can’t approve spending a quarter of a million dollars on something I don’t know where the trail is going to go,” Commissioner Jim Bryant said before motioning to table the matter.

The property acquisition will be discussed again Dec. 18.

Sheriff’s office welcomes new employee

The Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office introduced to the County Board its newest deputy, Steve Sutton-Brown. He has experience in patrol through jobs in Cannon Falls and the state of Florida.

“In this process for this list that we did we had probably the best pool of candidates we’ve ever had,” Sheriff Scott McNurlin told the board, adding that Sutton-Brown came out on top. “We’re really looking forward to working with him and I think he’s going to do a great job.”

Because of the amount of experience and knowledge Sutton-Brown will bring to the position, McNurlin requested he be hired at step three on the pay scale, which represents a salary that is comparable to what Sutton-Brown was making in Cannon Falls. Most new employees are hired at step one.

Commissioners unanimously approved the requested pay.

No concern shown for preliminary levy

There were no questions or comments from the public or the county commissioners after a budget presentation at the Goodhue County truth-in-taxation meeting Thursday night.

The preliminary budget for 2013 is $54,532,919 and the preliminary levy is $26,936,658, which represents an increase of $250,000 or .94 percent from the 2012 levy.

The board will adopt the 2013 budget at its meeting Dec. 18.

Meeting watch

Thursday’s County Board meeting lasted 1 hour, 20 minutes. All members were present.

— Compiled by Regan Carstensen, staff writer

Tags: government