The Meeker County Board of Commissioners has hired David Drown Associates of Minneapolis to help with the recruitment of a new County Administrator. Andrew Letson is leaving that position in October to become the Stearns County Administrator.
Letson says his last working day in Meeker County will be October 14th and it’s hoped that some finalists will be scheduled for interviews by that time so that there is a very short gap between administrators. He says one of the big tasks that he’s been working on is getting a budget together for 2027.
Letson says the budget process usually runs from May through December, so department heads are determining what their needs will be for the next year and the budget committee is meeting to make sure that there will be adequate resources to accomplish what needs to be done in an efficient way to minimize the tax burden for residents. He says the big challenge this year is state and federal policy changes that will impact the county budget – especially cost shifts for the SNAP program.
Letson says the tax increase last year was 9.16% and he’s not anticipating it being that much in the coming year. He says the County Board will have a work session at the end of this month to work on the budget, the preliminary levy will be adopted in September, and then the final levy will be approved in December.
The Cokato Corn Carnival is coming up next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The activities are centered around Peterson Park August 10th through the 12th.
Monday evening’s main event will be the kiddie parade at 6 p.m., followed by the main parade. Kendell Kubasch, the director of the Mid-Minnesota Concert Band, will serve as grand marshal. Hick with a Pick, who performed recently at the Meeker County Fair’s Towmaster stage, will perform on the main stage in Cokato’s Peterson’s Park Monday, after the parade. The Cokato Museum’s exhibit “Once Upon a Toybox” will be open until 10 p.m. The food booths, midway rides and bingo will also be open until 10 p.m. Monday in Peterson Park.
Tuesday’s highlight will be the Cokato Royalty Coronation at 8 p.m. Also Tuesday, there will be a book sale, bingo, midway rides and food booths, the WOW Mobile Metal Art Lab – open from from 12:30-to-3:30 p.m. – to provide an interactive art experience. The stage will feature the Crow River Cloggers entertaining at 2 p.m. and the children’s prize drawing will be at 3:15 p.m.
The corn is served from 4-to-8 p.m. both Tuesday and Wednesday in Cokato. Wednesday will feature the book sale, bingo, food booths, and midway rides again. The Mid-Minnesota Concert band will perform at 7 p.m. Wednesday on the main stage, followed by Airborne Attraction at 8 p.m. The grand finale will be the 2026 Chevy Trax and cash raffle drawings at 9:30 p.m.
You can find more Cokato Corn Carnival information at www.cokatocorncarnival.com or on the Cokato Corn Carnival Facebook page.
The Litchfield City Council passed a resolution Monday evening to limit parking to one side of the service road that runs from the Sure Stay Motel to County-State-Aid-Highway 34. No parking will be allowed on the west and south sides of the roadway.
Mayor Ron Dingmann says the Council also approved of the issuance/sale of $3,270,000 in general obligation bonds which will help fund projects on Johnson Drive/260th Street and Swift Avenue/Ripley Street. He says the Council also discussed a priority list of over 70 future projects.
Mayor Dingmann says the priority list will be discussed further at the October 5th meeting. He says the Council plans to make a decision at the August 17th meeting about whether or not to allow THC products to be sold at the liquor store.
The Meeker County Board of Commissioners has awarded a bid for a bridge project on County-State-Aid-Highway 26 – south of Cedar Mills. Three bids were opened on Monday and Structural Specialties of Hutchinson had the lowest bid.
The County Board approved the bid with an estimated cost of $1,207,247.42. Public Works Director/County Engineer Phil Schmalz says it was about 9.4% over the engineer’s estimate of $1,093,599. He says they are hoping to start the project by late August.
Meeker County Bridge number 47504 is a 1963 timber structure on CSAH 26 over the South Fork of the Crow River, south of Cedar Mills. The bridge underwent a detailed structural element inspection in the spring of 2025 and was closed in May of 2025. The bridge closure was due to severe internal decay of the north abutment pile cap. Internal section loss of this timber member was measured at 77% at its most severe location. The bridge closure was not anticipated and Meeker County Public Works immediately requested consultant proposals for the replacement of the bridge after the crossing was closed.
The construction cost will be funded through a $450,000 State Bridge Bonding Grant with remaining funds coming from Meeker County’s regular CSAH Construction fund.
Schmalz also presented his annual report to the Meeker County Board of Commissioners. He says Meeker County maintains 273-miles of county-state-aid highways and there are 775-miles of township roads, of which Meeker County maintains 680-miles. Schmalz says the county has 17 plow trucks, 13 motor graders and 9 tractor/mowers to help with maintenance of the roads. He says they are looking at reducing the number of county shops from 9 to 5 in the future, and a work session will be held this fall to determine which shops to close.