COUNTY PASSES BUDGET, HEARS FROM MAYOR

    The Marshall County Commission met Tuesday morning. Britton Mayor Clyde Fredrickson spoke before the commission and noted that the city plans to talk to them next year about the possibility of sharing expenses for shared resources like the pool, cemetery, library, and Main Street.
The Highway Department updated the commission on mowing ditches, gravel work, and chopping and hauling to dairy farms. Work orders were approved for preliminary engineering on three bridges for which state grants were received. The bridge studies will determine what can be done for the bridges in disrepair.
    The commission discussed the Wheel Tax. It is currently at $4 for up to 4 wheels and is allowed to increase to $5 for up to 12 wheels. This has to be done by ordinance. A motion passed to proceed with the first and second reading of such an ordinance. If passed, it would go into effect on January 1st, and be assessed when your vehicle registration occurs. The $4 increase on 4-wheeled vehicles would go to the Highway fund.
    The county’s 5-year highway plan was approved. This plan is necessary as bridges have to be on a 5-year plan to be eligible for state grants. A welfare claim of $2,000 to Eggers Funeral Home was approved. The County Cell Phone Plan is switching to T-Mobile rather than Verizon. The 2026 Annual Budget was approved. Auditor Megan Biel noted there were various calculation changes from the provisional budget so she will be republishing the budget information in the newspaper next week.
    William ‘Colby’ Crawford was appointed to the Claremont Fire District Board. The commission then entered an executive session for contract negotiations and legal matters, and no action was taken after. 
    In zoning matters, the Commission heard from the Zoning Board and Zoning Director Erin Collins-Miles regarding the need to update the county’s Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Manual. The update would remove unnecessary language and ensure the documents reflect more accurate and current information. A motion was approved to hire Eric Senger of NECOG to assist the county in drafting the new manual.
    The commission also approved several building permits, including for Jeff and Jean Amacher in Red Iron Lake Township (variance granted), Beth Hove in Miller, Loren Cutler in Pleasant Valley (variance granted), Thomas Satrang in Lake, Ehren Grupe in Newark (variance granted), The Towers, LLC in Weston (variance granted and approved conditionally), Levi Peters in Pleasant Valley, Jodi Kraft in Lake, Bob and Eileen Skjonsberg in Dumarce, and Terry Riedl in Lake.