By Jill Fennema –

Last week Tuesday, the Pipestone County Board opened bids for the Old Landfill Property where the Pipestone Sportsmen’s Club hopes to open a shooting range.

There was only one bid received and that was a bid for $100 from the Pipestone Sportsmen. The board approved that bid and the sportsmen will take possession of the land as soon as possible. 

Earlier in the meeting, Lieutenant Edison Dengler and Mike Hamann with the Pipestone County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) came to talk about the department’s new K-9 purchase. The board approved the purchase of a new dog earlier this year. Deng-ler reported that the dog, a Belgian Malinois, is in the country and being trained. 

In August, the dog’s new handler, Deputy Josh Watts, will go to Iowa to train with the dog over the course of four weeks. The dog, training, and travel expenses for Deputy Watts came from money that was confiscated during drug busts.  Watts is also a drug recognition expert for the county as well, so having the dog in his care should work out really well.

“It is a lot of work being a K-9 handler,” Hamann said. “It’s a big commitment.” He explained that the deputy works with the dog while on duty, but also on his personal time. The dog essentially becomes a member of his family. 

The sheriff’s office plans to bring their two existing K-9s to the Dutch Festival this July so that the community can meet the dogs and interact. They explain what the dogs do and let children meet them, etc. 

Dengler also reported that while the county board had approved the purchase of two new Durangos earlier this year, Chrysler had contacted them and cancelled one of the vehicles. This is something that is happening to law enforcement agencies across the country. 

The PCSO was able to find a Chevy Silverado from Papik Motors for $36,500 and the board approved that purchase. They planned to take delivery of that vehicle last week.

CSAH 18 between Edgerton and Woodstock will be closed for a few weeks this summer while five culverts are replaced.

The contractor on the project asked to do the project this summer, when there is normally a ban on construction because of the Topeka Shiner. However, there is not much water there now and the DNR and US Fish and Wildlife gave the okay for the project to be done now. 

County Highway Engineer Nick Bergman expects that the road will be closed for four to six weeks. There will be intermittent times when the road is open, but replacing all the culverts will take several weeks.

Bergman also reported the drilling on the two bridge projects by Ihlen are complete. The rest of construction should be back on track at a normal pace. 

Jason Overby, the manager of Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water, presented his annual report to the board. LPRW has 756 accounts in Pipestone County.  Their operating expense for 2021 was $8,349,000. They connected 84 new customers in 2021, which was a significant increase from normal for them. They typically connect 40-55 new users a year, but last year’s drought caused more need. Of those hookups, 79 were for residential hookups for livestock. They also brought water to a winery in the north end of their system. 

The board approved a property purchase by Pipestone County Medical Center. CEO Brad Burris requested board approval for PCMC to purchase the home at 908 5th Ave SW in Pipestone for $161,300. The property is located near the hospital and on the same street where the hospital already owns property. 

In personnel matters, Cathy Feste reported that Dan Moser, a highway maintenance worker, passed away suddenly on June 2. He was employed with the county for the past 22 years.

Cullen Clipper, the highway maintenance supervisor, resigned at the end of May. 

Deputy Recorder Gretchen LaBrune resigned as of June 17. Because Auditor Emaleigh Vreeman is still training for the recorder position, the board approved hiring former recorder Mary Ann De Groot to assist with her training.