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County moves forward with $10 million bond plan

Submitted by admin on Wed, 12/12/2018 - 11:15am
By

The McLeod County Board worked through the agenda quickly at its regular meeting — until the end. At the meeting, a group of concerned residents sat together ominously to the right of the podium. Among those men was a 22-year veteran on the board, Ray Bayerl. Bayerl asked if the board would be willing to rearrange the “public comment” section of the meeting to before item F, which was the final approval of the county’s consolidation project. Commissioner Joe Nagel agreed.
The consolidation project, according to the board, will consolidate various services that are currently in multiple locations into one government center in Glencoe, allowing residents a “one-stop-shop” for most McLeod County government needs. The board continually suggests the project will save resources and money.
When the time came, Bayerl made his way to the podium. He asked for an extension on the decision of the consolidation project, but the board moved to approve due to the expansive timeline of the project.
“I’ve heard a lot about this that people don’t want it,” Bayerl said, referencing a petition against the project that, while receiving a fair amount of support, originated on Facebook and was therefore void as a legitimate petition.
Bayerl made note that after serving on the board, he left without leaving the county in debt — something the current board couldn’t say of itself if commissioners vacated the board today. He made claims that the board will be up to $25 million in debt in a few years including the consolidation project, which will contribute to $12 million of that debt.
“I think it’s outrageous to put that kind of debt on the people of McLeod County,” Bayerl said.
County Administrator Cindy Ford immediately refuted claims on the amount of debt Bayerl claimed the county was dealing with. While Ford suggested the actual figure to be around $3 million, not including the debt acquired from the consolidation project, the council also explained that 90 percent of the government center is going to be paid for without increasing taxes.

(For the complete story, see the Dec. 12 print edition of The Chronicle.)