IVANHOE?- The Lincoln County Board approved a 10-year abatement for a planned expansion of the Schuneman Equipment facility in Tyler at an abatement hearing held during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.
Vince Robinson, enterprise facilitator of the Lincoln County Enterprise Development Corporation, spoke in favor of the abatement. Nobody else showed up for the hearing.
Robinson said the city of Tyler also approved a tax abatement for Schuneman at a hearing Monday evening.
Both abatements are for 80 percent of the value of the expansion and will run 10 years from 2014. The property taxes on the existing part of the facility will not be affected.
The terms of the abatement require the expansion of the facility, which include a shop, wash bay, and new offices, must be complete within the year or the abatement is void.
In other action, the board voted unanimously to delegate administrative and financial responsibilities for implementing the Local Water Management Plan to the Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District, as required by the terms of the Minnesota Natural Resources Block Grant.
The board voted 3-2 to authorize Robert Olsen, county environmental director, to spend up to $40,000 for tree removal on Judicial Ditch 29 in sections 33 and 34 in Lake Stay Township. Commissioners Don Evers and Larry Hansen cast the dissenting votes.
At the request of Emergency Management Director Jenna Sommers, the board approved an application for a $123,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to install emergency warning sirens in Lincoln County parks, the city of Arco, and the Tyler City Park.
The board approved requests by County Highway Superintendent Lee Amundson to advertise highway construction and maintenance bids for 2012, and to schedule a public hearing on a proposed 5-year plan road plan.
The hearing was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on March 20 at the Lincoln County Courthouse.