County approves 2025 meeting dates, re-designates depositories, sets crop damage rates and one-time municipal tipping fee

The Cottonwood County Board approved a broad consent agenda that included administrative, financial and fee decisions for 2025. The approved meeting schedule sets regular meetings for the first and third Tuesday of each month, starting at 9:00 a.m., with two exceptions: the Board of Equalization on June 17 and a budget discussion meeting on Dec. 2 in the afternoon. The board also re-designated official county depositories (Bank Midwest – Windom; Bank of the West – Windom; United Prairie Bank – Mt. Lake; First Security Bank – Storden; and others) and official brokers (Stifel Nicolaus & Company; Multi-Bank Securities; Wells Fargo Advisors; MN Magic Fund; Moreton Capital Markets; Bank Midwest-Windom). The consent motion was approved (motion by Appel, second by Gravley).

The board set crop damage rates for the 2025 growing season at $900 per acre for corn and $600 per acre for soybeans. The Solid Waste Department was authorized to offer a one-time half-price municipal tipping fee for city-wide clean-ups: $31.67 per ton plus a $6.67/ton surcharge and $5.38 waste tax billed to cities; mattress pickup at city clean-ups may be provided at $2 per piece (the $15 disposal fee still applies). The board also approved a $3,000 contingency fund for the County Attorney's Office, blanket approval for routine payables and year-end commissioner warrants, authorization for the Auditor/Treasurer to make electronic transfers, and set a $85 per-meeting per diem for committee members other than commissioners.