Dunn County commissioners adopted a written public-comment guideline, authorized a county auction for late September and approved a $10,000 grant to the Dunn County Roundup to acquire land for a community garden, the board said at its meeting.

The board voted to adopt the public-comment guidelines prepared by the auditor’s office. The policy places public comment as the first nonprocedural agenda item, requires a speaker card with name and address listing the agenda item, sets a 15-minute total comment period with a three-minute limit per speaker, disallows abusive or defamatory remarks and permits written comments to be submitted before the meeting. Commissioner Olsen moved to approve the guidelines and Commissioner Heizer seconded; the motion passed by roll call vote.

The commissioners also authorized staff to schedule a county auction to sell surplus equipment and vehicles and to hire an auctioneer; the board discussed timing and favored a weekend date to maximize public attendance. Commissioner Pelton moved to set an auction in late September and hire an auctioneer; the motion passed by roll call vote.

In a separate grant action, the board approved a request from the Dunn County Roundup for $10,000 to purchase land behind the Roundup for use as community garden plots. The motion was made by Commissioner Olsen and seconded by Commissioner Heizer. Commissioners recorded unanimous support on the roll call vote.

Staff said the county will publish the auction notice in the newspaper at least two weeks before the sale and coordinate logistics with the road department if the auction is held at the road shop.

The public-comment guidelines will be posted on the county’s website once finalized, county staff said.