The Pipestone County Commissioners set a public hearing date of April 22, where the public will have the right to comment on the redistricting proposal that the county looked at during a special meeting on Monday, March 14.

Because the populations in Edgerton and near Edgerton have increased, District 3 of Pipestone County, which is represented by Dallas Roskamp, increased by 95 people. District 2, represented by Les Nath and covering Jasper, Ihlen, and four townships, decreased in population.

The county needed to look at redrawing district lines because of the population changes. However, Auditor Treasurer Amanda Sandy and County Administrator Steve Ewing proposed that no changes be made to the districts.

Sandy explained that there are two tests that determine whether changes need to be made to the district lines. One test is whether or not a district’s population deviates by more than or less than 10 percent of the average population for the districts.

The total county population is 9,424, creating an average population of 1,885 for each of the five districts. District 2, fell below the average population by more than 10 percent, with a population of 1,608. Districts 4 and 5, which comprise the City of Pipestone, exceeded the average by more than 10 percent.

However, the county cannot just randomly reallocate blocks of territory to a neighboring commissioner district. Nor can they take the city of Trosky out of District 3 and assign it to District 2 because the districts need to remain cohesive.

Another test that the county had to look at was the total population among the three smallest districts and the two largest districts. The population of the smallest three districts must be more than the total of the largest two districts.

Pipestone County passed this test with the populations of Districts 1, 2 and 3 totaling 5,209 and the total of Districts 4 and 5 totaling 4,215.

The commissioners adopt a resolution to hold a public hearing on April 26 at 10 a.m. If the the plan to make no changes stands, there will be no need for any special elections for commissioners. That said, both Les Nath (District 2) and Dan Wildermuth (District 4) are up for re-election in November.