Faribault County mulls issue of roadside memorials

Officials with the Faribault County Commission have formed a committee to deal with a dicey issue - how to respect mourners who leave roadside memorials up, even after the memorials deteriorate or become maintenance issues.

A state statute already specifies that memorials can't impede traffic, interfere with maintenance or create unsafe conditions.

Still, Commissioner Butch Erichsrud asked the board this week to develop a county policy, saying one particular memorial had begun drawing complaints from constituents.

The memorial was for Josh Johnson. He was 20 years old when his truck rolled on Highway 6 in Pilot Grove Township on May 20, 2007. Johnson's family and friends marked the spot with a memorial that has evolved to become a well-kept rock bed with edgers and flowers.

Other items placed at the site include high school graduation pictures and racing decals, mementoes that recall Johnson's life and describe how loved ones remember him.

Erichsrud said he doesn't object to a memorial if it's a cross placed out of the way of traffic. But a "structure" such as Johnson's memorial becomes a road deterrent, he said.

"My constituents have called me and I have not got one positive phone call," he said. "They're all negatives and they want it out of there."

Commission member Bill Groskreutz suggested the committee speak with other counties and the League of Minnesota Cities to develop a reasonable policy.

"There's a lot of emotion involved in this whole situation already," Groskreutz said.

Commissioner Tom Warmka agreed to serve on the committee, but acknowledged it might be difficult for him to keep his personal experiences from influencing his decision. His father died in a farming accident and a brother died in a car accident.

"I know that we're going to have a little difficulty keeping emotion out of this," he said.

Another commission member, Tom Loveall, said it wasn't necessary to make a completely emotion-free decision. He suggested that existing memorials be grandfathered in to any new policy because people have already established emotional connections to them.

"We're talking about fundamentals of being humans - life and death," he said. "It isn't just about numbers and budgets."

Erichsrud said he was only raising the issue because his constituents asked him to. He suggested one compromise could be to limit the memorials to simple displays of crosses and flowers, like those that mourners in others states seem to use.

"I can live with a cross and a flower pot like the rest of the people put up, and so can the rest of the people of Pilot Grove," he said.

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Information from: Sentinel, http://www.fairmontsentinel.com