FAIRMONT The Martin County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday considered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the county and the Martin County Veterans
Schmeeckle Foundation
Thank you to the Schmeeckle Foundation for their donation of $250,000 toward increasing the availability of child care in Martin County. They have partnered with the Prosper Project and other groups to help existing daycare with additional training and support and to recruit and add new providers to the mix to help chip away at the 170 additional child care slots needed in Martin County.
Thank you Schmeeckle Foundation for your continued and generous support of Martin County.
Martin County publication
Once again the Martin County commissioners have not served all of Martin County when they designated the Truman Tribune as the county’s legal newspaper. According to County Attorney, Terry Viesselman, Minnesota statute states that the bid is to go to the lowest bidder, but the board may reject any offer if, in its judgment, the public interest so requires. How does a newspaper with 85% less distribution in the county serve the needs of all the county?
Staff Writers
jsorensen@fairmontsentinel.com
FAIRMONT Martin County Commissioners took care of several housekeeping measures on Tuesday. The board approved a motion designating the Truman Tribune as the official legal newspaper for 2021, after some intense discussion.
The board received three bids from three different newspapers, coming from the Truman Tribune, Fairmont Sentinel, and the Fairmont Photo Press. According to County Attorney Terry Viesselman, Minnesota statute states that the bid is to go to the lowest bidder but the board may reject any offer if, in its judgment, the public interest so requires.
Discussion centered around whether circulation numbers equated to transparency, along with comments from constituents on their preferences.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-NEWSPAPER DESIGNATION
Martin County Commissioners Tuesday had their most contentious moment of the new year so far with a vote on designation of the official legal newspaper. The board approved a motion designating the Truman Tribune as the official legal newspaper for 2021, which had the low bid, after some intense discussion. Other bids came from the Fairmont Photo Press that had this past year’s low bid and the Fairmont Sentinel. The discussion centered around acceptjng the low bid or the paper with the highest circulation and most outreach in the county.According to County Attorney Terry Viesselman, Minnesota statute states that the bid is to go to the lowest bidder but the board may reject any offer if, in its judgment, the public interest so requires. The first vote on a motion to accept the low bid of the Tribune ended in a 2-2 tie with new Board Chair Elliott Belgard and past chair Steve Flohrs voting yes and Commmissioners Kathy Smith and R