HURON — The Beadle County Commission held a sealed-bid auction during Tuesday’s regular commission meeting to auction the former weed board building and surrounding grounds.

Ben Meyer of Meyer Auction Service purchased the building for $280,000.

Meyer and Tyler McDonald were the only two to submi qualifying bids to participate in the auction, with McDonald’s sealed bid starting at $175,000 and Meyer’s at $180,000.

A purchase agreement will be drawn up and Meyer Auction will assume habitation of the building once utilities are transferred.

The commission discussed the wage scale, with Highway Superintendent Jason Fritzsche and States Attorney Mike Moore present for the discussion. Moore discussed the difficulty that Fritzsche and Sheriff Doug Solem have had hiring employees recently due to wages that weren’t competitive with other similar positions in the area.

The commission considered an across-board wage scale reset and approved this immediately, with Fritzsche and Moore having cleared the move with union representation.

Fritzsche stated that he has yet to receive a number of townships’ 5-year plans for the upcoming Sept. 5 township meeting.

A public open house for the new highway department building is set for October, with date yet to be determined.

The commission also had an extended discussion on getting credit cards for county employees for items such as gas and lodging, as needed for county business. Other county rules and regulations were reviewed. The consensus of the commission is to move forward with credit cards, though specific rules behind the cards will need to be set up first.

Commissioners also:

The next county commission meeting is Tues., Sept. 5 at 9 a.m. in the Beadle County Courthouse.