Rice County 10-Year Capital Improvement Plan Discussed

The Rice County Board of Commissioners met as a committee of the whole today and heard a presentation from county highway engineer Dennis Luebbe on the 10-year Capital Improvement Plan for his department. Luebbe told commissioners in this construction season three bridges will be replaced. One in Warsaw Township at 260th Street West and two on County Road 46. The county also recently learned it will receive FEMA money for the bluff or slope failure on County Road 11 caused by last summer's flooding.

The veteran Rice County Highway Engineer also noted he'll be attending the Northfield City Council meeting tonight to discuss a request to upgrade a repavement project on Woodley Street. The CIP goes through 2024, and I didn't see anything about a northern exchange on Faribault's southernmost exit. I asked Luebbe after the meeting about any roundabout possibilities. None are in the plan, but Luebbe said he'd love to have more. He has agreed to be on an AM Minnesota program before the end of the month so we can talk more in depth about some of the projects.

You can see below that the County Board was a bit more informal for the work session, allowing their presenters to sit down in the commissioners' room at the County Government Services building in Faribault.