county makes major investments in parks | Local

“It’s definitely a lot of money, and it should get people’s attention,” said council vice chairman Paul Wright. “We had long-term planning on the exhibition site, we are in the process of planning the parks. These are public assets, amenities, that we have here not only for our constituents, but also to bring people across McLeod County.

While the county often reviews project ideas, when it comes to figuring out how to fit them into the budget, there is no room.

“It’s a way to definitely do upgrades, repairs, without having to use levy funds,” Wright said, “and to be able to spend time planning some of these projects without wasting a lot of time on plan a project, and then at the end we don’t have the money for it. It’s an opportunity to cover a lot of ground.

The $2.7 million will be set aside, with individual expenses being reviewed as each project is presented to the board.

“We’ll cross projects as we go along,” said board chairman Doug Krueger.

Another major investment was $45,000 for the County Ditch 11 wetland project in Winsted. This will help match a clean water grant obtained by the Mcleod County Soil and Water Conservation District for $50,000, with Winsted providing the additional funds to cover the $96,000 cost. Winsted will also cover additional project costs, such as engineering and labor time.

“It’s clean water, and when we’re judged on clean water, we’re not judged on Winsted, Brownton or Hutchinson,” Krueger said. “It’s overall. Our SWCDs are working hard to continue working in this direction. It is a necessary evil that we take every step to manage McLeod County’s drainage in a prudent and legal manner. I am also very satisfied with it. »

The county has also set aside $50,000 for the Buffalo Creek Watershed Clean Water Project on County Ditch 15. Renville County is contributing $25,000. The Buffalo Creek Watershed District is providing matching funds of $75,000. A sum of $5,270 was also approved for ARMER radios in Hutchinson and Silver Lake. Matching funds will be provided by each city for the cost of additional equipment. After a busy 150th anniversary of the McLeod County Fair, where admission was free thanks to a $100,000 investment from ARPA, an additional $400,000 was set aside to provide free admission during four more years.

These funding allocations were approved unanimously.

ARPA funds are federal dollars disbursed to state, local and tribal governments affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, designed to help public health and economic recovery, was signed by President Joe Biden in early 2021. McLeod County’s share was 6.9 ​million dollars. Funds have been allocated for many expenses over the past year.