IVANHOE?- The Lincoln County Board re-approved a tax abatement for a Schueneman Equipment Company expansion in Tyler at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.
The company recently added more properties and reorganized under a new ownership structure recently and was seeking approval of the same agreement the board passed on Feb. 7.
The agreement abates up to 80 percent of the assessed value of the $900,000 expansion to the company's existing tractor repair facility. This amounts to a sum not to exceed $3,200 a year in property taxes paid to the county, according to Vince Robinson, facilitator with the Lincoln County Economic Development Corporation. The county maintains the tax on the existing facility at the present rate.
Schueneman is building a larger building because modern tractors and combines cannot fit into the existing structure.
The board heard from Emergency Manager Jeanna Sommers who reported that the county will spend about $83,000 for connectivity with the ARMER emergency communication system, with a 50 percent matching grant from the state, by June 30.
The board also approved Sommers' request for $7,300 to repair various safety deficiencies she found during a safety walkthrough completed recently.
After hearing from Kerry Netzke, Area II representative for Minnesota River Basin Projects, Inc., the board voted to authorize $5,000 minimum to a $7,500 maximum contribution to the Limestone 1 Road Retention project. The project will raise part of the road surface of 340th Street, replace two stream crossings, and create a flood pool to slow the rate of runoff during torrential rains and prevent the roads from washing out because of flooding.
Limestone 1 is a joint project between the Yellow Medicine River Watershed District, Limestone and Alta Vista townships in Lincoln County, Eidsvold Township in Lyon County, and Lincoln and Lyon counties. The estimated cost of the project is about $183,000 with a 25 percent, $46,000 local match required.
County Environmental Administrator Robert Olsen told the board there would be household hazardous waste pickup on May 9 and May 11. On the morning of May 9, residents of Hendricks will be able to dispose of household waste not acceptable in landfills at the county shop.
In the afternoon, residents of Ivanhoe can drop off their waste at the landfill transfer facility.
On May 11, the pickup times will be in Tyler in the morning and Lake Benton in the afternoon at the local county shops.
Olsen said the pickup is for household hazardous waste only, not for commercial. Residents can dispose of household chemicals, paint and fluorescent light fixtures.