Greetings from Le Sueur County:
I hope the start of 2025 has been good for everyone. The Board had a busy month, coming out of the gate with the first Board meeting of the year on January 7, which is also known as the Statutory meeting where certain business must be addressed. Namely the swearing in of new Commissioners and electing a board chair and vice chair. New Commissioner Dennis Tietz was sworn in, along with Commissioner Dave Preisler being elected chair and Commissioner Danny O’Keefe being elected vice chair. The board also appointed and reappointed several individuals to the Planning Commission and Board of Adjustments.
The Board also opened bids for the annual legal newspaper. The Le Sueur County News was the low bid and was named the official paper for 2025. Additionally, the Board adopted our Capital Improvement Plan, which outlines major planned expenses over 5 years, Board Operating Procedures which guides Board decision making, and the County Finance Policy that guides financial decision making. All these policies are available for the public to view on our website under the County Administration page.
In other Board news, The Board, acting as the drainage authority, finalized a redetermination of benefits on county ditch 45, along with spur 7 and lateral 1 spur 7 on the system. In addition to updating the benefit rolls and paying damages for buffers, the Board also approved consolidating the systems.
Commissioners also adopted an updated well-sealing policy, approved the 2025 ditch specialist budget with the County Soil and Water Conservation District, and received a financial report from the Auditor-Treasurer.
Lastly, the Board approved the advertising for bids for major road projects in 2025. The Board approved advertising for five major road projects, which include: pavement rehab on CSAH 6 from TH 60 to CSAH 14 in Waterville Township; pavement overlay of CR 131 from CSAH 6 to City of Waterville; pavement rehab on CSAH 13 from TH 60 to CSAH 16 in Elysian Township; pavement rehab on CSAH 30 from CSAH 26 to CSAH 28 south of Heidelberg; and replacement of a bridge on CSAH 46 in the City of Cleveland.
You may have heard the County has undertaken efforts of updating our 17-year-old comprehensive land use plan and updating our ordinances, which is themed Vision 2050. This effort is designed to develop the county’s long-range development plan and to amend our current zoning ordinances to guide that future growth. One key question we are attempting to answer is proper housing density in rural areas and whether the County should be less restrictive in terms of building homes. If you would like to learn more about this process and provide input, visit the County website and look under the Planning and Zoning page where you can view a specialized website that explains the effort, along with direction to sign up for text alerts.