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would have to be a loan. County Coordinator Karen Brown said it will take a lot of work and time to set up a subordinate district. A grant application resolution was adopted as was a resolution for “TMDL grant reimbursement of expenses for possible development of Subordinate Service District for the Greenleafton community septic system.” The grant and loan application will be made to the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority. The Subordinate Service District is to be established so only those residents within the district who will benefit will be charged. Brown said the county will have to accept the grant if it is awarded. Commissioner Marc Prestby stated that nothing we are doing today will commit
Monday, July 2, 2012
us to anything. Commissioner Chuck Amunrud said if we get the subordinate district, at some point it will be turned over to the Greenleafton residents or the township. Fred Scheevel, York Township, was concerned about future maintenance costs, which could put the township at risk again. He said property will have to be purchased to put this system in. Commissioner Duane Bakke said residents will need to take responsibility; eventually people that own the property will be on the hook. CSAH 5 The lowest of two bids to do the concrete paving on CSAH 5 was accepted. The low bid of $1,849,029.45 from Flynn Company was about $175,000 over the estimate. The work is to be completed by the middle of October. Regarding the CSAH 5 project a motion was approved declaring that a temporary location of a
concrete plant for this project is exempt from the moratorium on the extraction of material as described in Section 721 of the Fillmore County Zoning Ordinance. Zoning Administrator Chris Graves said if the temporary concrete plant were to be located in an existing permitted sand pit or quarry there would be no need for a CUP. Other Business In Brief •Permission was granted to take the Veterans’ van to Branson, Missouri, for an annual parade. All expenses will be paid by individual veterans. •A Pre-Conception grant with Houston County was accepted for a two year period ($30,600 for Fillmore County and $29,400 for Houston County). The grant is from the Minnesota Department of Health and is to help with risk factors of child bearing age women prior to pregnancy. Obesity, as well as low weight are a concern. Preconception health
The FCJ reaches over 12,000 household each week. interventions prevent or reduce birth defects. •Kathy Dahl, Preston Tourism Director, and Julie Kiehne, Executive Director Lanesboro Chamber of Commerce, addressed the board to thank them for their 2012 contribution of $1,043 (5 cents per capita) and to request financial support for 2013. It was noted that for every dollar spent to market tourism, $4.60 is produced in state and local taxes, $20.40 is made in wages, and $53.00 in gross sales is generated. In 2010 Fillmore County’s leisure and hospitality industry saw nearly $19 million in gross sales, produced $1,320,112 in sales tax, and provided 559 private sector jobs. •Auditor/Treasurer Shirl Boelter asked for and received approval to use township and city clerks and head election judges for temporary help for election equipment testing and absentee voting as needed for the upcoming elections. Additional
monies of up to $2,000 for the temporary help was granted. •There was further discussion on medical examiner and morgue services. The county has been looking at working with Hennepin County Medical Examiner. The county has not yet received a quote from Mayo Clinic. Sheriff Daryl Jensen said he would like to see what Mayo has to offer. Hennepin wants an answer in July. •The amendment to zoning ordinance 711, which will allow a limited number of camping cabins and park models in campgrounds, was approved as recommended by the Planning Commission. One camping cabin or park model (attached to a concrete slab) will be allowed per six recreational camping vehicle sites. The camping cabins and park models must be out of the flood plain and will be owned by the campground with the intention of renting them out.
Rushford gets kids biking safely Walz staff takes a tour of National Trout Center By Kirsten Zoellner It’s been nearly 20 years since Rushford has held a bike safety clinic for its young people. This past Wednesday, thanks to tenacious part-time Rushford police officer Chris Frick, the community once again saw kids practicing the basics on the school play yard. In a little over three weeks’ time, Frick was able to collect more than $1,800 in donations for the event, including a donation match from the Rushford Masonic Lodge. Frick even went so far as to take a day off of his regular job to solicit the donations, which came from The Rushford Womens’ Club, TriCounty Electric, the Horihan Agency, State Farm, Hammell Equipment, Farmer’s Elevator, the Creamery & Nordic Lanes, Rushford State Bank, Winona Health, and the Rushford Area Chamber of Commerce. The donations were intended to support organization of the event, which was a collaboration of the Rushford Police Department and the Rushford Ambulance Service. Participants without helmets had their heads measured for a proper fit and will be able to pick up their helmets at Rushford Hardware at a later date, which donated them at a
discounted rate. Kwik Trip in Rushford also joined in, donating cookies and bags for booklets. News of the upcoming clinic also traveled to Winona, where a Rushford resident solicited their employer, WalMart, to donate a gift certificate to be used towards a new bicycle. The six, one-hour classes were conducted by Frick, assistant and part-time officer Wade Anderson, and by members of Craig Colbenson’s high school class. Julie Scudiero, Rushford Ambulance Director, was also on hand to help out, as well as giving the participants a tour of the ambulance. The kids, for their part, learned bicycle basics, including hand signals, street crossing safety, and riding skills. They were divided into an under 10 and 10 and over age groups for the classes. Despite the high temperatures, all were smiling and enjoying the classes. Julie-Ann Frick, Chris’ wife and a city hall employee, saw to pre-registrations. Prior to the start of the classes, 40 were registered, but several drop-ins had already showed up in the first morning class and Frick expected the number of actual participants to be between 45 and 55 by day’s end.
By Jade Sexton Staff members of Congressman Tim Walz visited Preston on Monday, June 25 to tour the National Trout Center (NTC). They were there to learn more about the Trout Center, what they have done, and what their future plans are. Cathy Enerson, Director for the Community and Economic Development Associates (CEDA), welcomed Judy Bird and Peder Kjeseth to Preston and spoke to them about the National Trout Center. “We are emulating the business plan of the National Eagle Center in Wabasha,” explained Enerson. She added that the National Eagle Center has visitors from 80 countries, and 100,000 people visit there each year.
According to Enerson, they had a feasibility study done on the NTC and she believes they could have an estimated 20,000 visitors a year. “Just like Lanesboro has been designated the B&B capital of Minnesota, we would like to be designated the trout capital,” said Enerson. They are also hoping to be designated as the official National Trout Center. Enerson said she believes this could bring a lot of people to the area. Bird asked if there are certain criteria that must be met for the designation of National Trout Center. George Spangler, who is on the NTC board, said they have looked into it, and have found no rules, and there seems to be no reason they can’t have the title.
“You have to just grab on and decided that’s what you want to be,” said Enerson. She showed Bird and Kjeseth a document outlining reasons that the NTC should be designated the official National Trout Center. Enerson also described the new site they are looking at to build a new facility. “We have a site picked out that is better to showcase the assets of the driftless area,” she said. To finish the tour, Walz’s staff members were shown the site in Preston where they are hoping to build a new interpretive center. The area will be perfect for trout fisherman, as well as learning about trout and the geography of the area, and is sure to bring visitors to Preston.
SMIF announces $100,000 in grants available As part of its effort to invest in economic growth within the region, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) is offering $100,000 in Incentive Grants to 501(c) nonprofit organizations or units/agencies of local, state or federal government. Grants up to $20,000 are available to support collaborative projects or programs in early childhood and entrepreneur development areas. Applications for this grant round are due August 30, 2012, with awards announced in October. “We want to focus on very specific early childhood and entrepreneur development issues that we believe are critical to the long-term economic vitality of our region,” notes Tim Penny, President/CEO. “These Incentive Grants are designed to support projects that involve collaboration and achieve sustainable, measurable results.” SMIF is looking for grant applications that encourage new assetbased approaches on issues within our focus areas. SMIF’s Focus Areas •Early Childhood Development: Strengthen children’s social and emotional health and school readiness •Entrepreneur Development:
Strengthen and grow the local business community Fourteen Incentive Grants totaling $247,668 were awarded by SMIF in the past year. Examples include a $20,000 grant to the MN Licensed Family Child Care Association support a mentoring program for licensed family child care providers and a $20,000
grant to the Fillmore County EDA to support a county-wide business succession project. Applications and guidelines can be found at www.smifoundation.org under “Applications.” For more information email Jennifer Heien, Grants Associate, at jenniferh@smifoundation.org or call 507-455-3215.
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