At the Dodge County Commissioners’ final meeting of the year Dec. 27, Chair Tim Tjosaas talked about the many projects and events that occurred in the county during 2022.

Three new department heads were hired. Todd Nelson - who served as the county Veterans Service Officer for many years - retired and his replacement is Brandon Servantez.

Amy Evans was hired to replace Amy Caron, who had served as Director of Public Health for both Steele and Dodge Counties during her time at the county. County officials in both counties decided to separate the position into two when Caron left and took a different job in the Twin Cities. Amy Evans is serving as the Public Health Director for Dodge County.

Jane Sheeran, who served as the Administrator for the Fairview Care Center for almost two decades, also retired and Amy Thompson was hired to replace her.

Tim also talked about the difficulties in hiring staff members in many areas of the county as the rate of unemployment in the state is one of the lowest in the nation.

The county’s economic development is moving ahead and in aid of that, the commissioners approved a tax abatement for the new Hamilton apartment building in Kasson and a loan for Chaotic Good Brewing, also in Kasson.

County Commissioners voted to bond for funds to fix some of the county’s worst roads and many of those projects were launched this year.

The complete rebuild of Highway 57 through Kasson and Mantorville is a project spearheaded by MnDOT and the first phase of the project through Kasson was largely completed during 2022. The addition of roundabouts and phase 2 of the project will continue in the new year.

At the fairgrounds, the county worked with the Fair Board to replace the grandstand bleachers and planning is under way for updated water and electrical services. Also, discussions began about building a new four-seasons events building on the fairgrounds.

Solar and wind power projects are being planned for certain areas of the county and they continue to bring about discussion.

The Transfer Station received its new permit from the state to continue its operations and the new agreement with Olmsted County to handle the county’s waste was signed.

The Environmental Quality department guided the Board of Commissioners regarding new regulations about air quality and septic systems.

The Highway Department’s new facility was mostly completed during the year and the expansion greatly improved the headquarters for the county’s road and bridge building and maintenance department.

Tim also thanked other board members for “…another good productive year. We work well together. We may not always agree but we have a good ‘back and forth’ without unneeded drama and we just get things done.”

Tim represents District 2 in the county and was reelected in 2022. His term runs through 2026. He has served as a commissioner since 2014.