By Julie Anderson, Douglas County Public Information Officer
Douglas County Commissioners approved a new CPKC railroad crossing on McKay Avenue in Alexandria just south of Discovery Middle School. The existing crossing surface will be removed, and a new, concrete crossing will be installed. The county will split the nearly $160,000 cost with the railroad. The road will be closed to traffic during construction. Douglas County Engineer and Public Works Director Tim Erickson said he’d like to get it completed this fall because the county will be doing bridge work on nearby Highway 29 next year.
Erickson also asked for and received approval for signs designating a reasonable and safe speed limit on McKay between CSAH 23 and 8th Avenue in the city of Alexandria.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is hiring Braun Intertec to investigate the detection of PFAS, otherwise known as Forever Chemicals, in the drinking water supply wells for Alexandria.
The work will take 4 to 5 weeks and will consist of installing temporary monitoring wells at various sites around Alexandria including on land owned by Douglas County that is the site of the new library. The goal is to collect additional groundwater data within the vicinity of the already-known PFAS impacts and suspected migration pathway to better understand the extent and nature of the contamination.
Assessor Stacy Honkomp presented contracts for assessing services in several cities and townships for 2026-2029. They include: Brandon, Leaf Valley, Moe, Solem, and Urness townships and the cities of Brandon, Carlos, Forada, and Nelson.
Each year, commissioners review the budgets of all departments and elected officials. Elected officials also present salary requests on an annual basis. The elected officials in Douglas County are the sheriff, auditor/treasurer, county attorney and recorder. The board listened to their salary requests and will announce their 2026 salaries at a future meeting.
Commissioners celebrated a success with West Central Minnesota Communities Action and heard distressing predictions for the future of some programs. First the distressing news from Chief Executive Officer Missy Becker-Cook. She explained the state funding is already cut for the Live Well at Home program which helped seniors with chores, lawn work and minor repairs. And, she said, the federal budget calls for eliminating energy assistance which she said is vital for the people in Douglas County. She said last heating season that program helped 4,500 households with primary heat. The success focused on Group Cares Camp which Douglas County helped fund. Last month campers came from 12 churches in 9 states and worked on 32 homesites. They built decks and wheelchair ramps and did a lot of painting. She said there were many happy homeowners.
The next board meeting is August 19 at the Administration Building in Alexandria.