Town Tiger Has Record Day at Plate
Winter Sisters Enjoy Summer Racing
Scott West Color Run Photos Page 2
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ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOURTH YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, AUGUST 5, 2015
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 32
B.P. Girl Starts Drive for City Council Approves Purchase Students Needing School Supplies Agreement for Medical Clinic Ridgeview to Buy Land for $1
Donations Will be Collected from Drop Boxes Sept. 1 and Delivered to B.P. Schools
Caycie Volek knows telling her daughter, Presley, ‘no’ doesn’t always make for a quick resolution. Once Presley sets her mind to something, she’s not about to settle for anything less than what she wants. With school starting in about a month, Volek recently set her mind on making sure every child who needs a backpack and school supplies has the requisite tools for the opening day, Sept. 8. But here’s what makes her insistence unique. The daughter of Caycie and Nick Volek, Presley is 5 years old. She’ll be in kindergarten at Chatfield Elementary School. She is energetic, precocious, curious, talkative and bighearted. She hasn’t yet learned to filter the emotions she wears on her sleeve. Ask her a question and you’ll get an answer. “She’s always been that way,”
Five-year-old Presley Volek wants every student who needs a backpack and school supplies to have one. She and her mother, Caycie Volek, are promoting a donation program. People can drop off donations at participating businesses. her mom said. “She has a nick- Caycie casually told Presley name, ‘The mouth.’ ” School Supplies During a recent ride home (continued on page 7) from dance class in Waconia,
Scott County Board OKs Advance Funding for B.P. Overpass Despite concerns the county board might be violating a policy by providing $700,000 in advance funding of the Belle Plaine overpass of Highway 169 just south of County Road 3, the county board Tuesday agreed to provide the money before construction begins. Commissioners voted 4-1 to provide the money when the bids for the $7 million project are awarded, but no earlier than Jan. 1, 2016. Previously, the county had considered holding off its share of funding until the project was completed. The board agreed to help fund the project earlier this year, said County Administrator Gary Shelton. Commissioner Jon Ulrich of Savage said the $700,000 is scheduled for 2016 and should not be delivered until next year.
Belle Plaine plans to open bids Sept 2. City Administrator Holly Kraft told commissioners the Belle Plaine City Council will consider approving a bid at its Sept. 8 meeting.
by Dan Ruud The Belle Plaine City Council Monday night saw to it that land obtained by the city previously with the intent of building a full-scale bridge and interchange on it will instead become a medical clinic. After learning a couple of years ago that the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/ DOT) would “not” allow the construction of the bridge and interchange where Highway 169 and County Road 3/Meridian Street intersect straight on, staff and members of the council, including Mayor Mike Pingalore, began to pursue the possibility of locating an overpass a little further down the southbound lane of Highway 169, with accesses from both
okayed the initial step in forming a letter of understanding, Ridgeview Medical Center Vice President John Prondzinski told the council that Ridgeview is “very excited about the opportunity to bring its services to the Belle Plaine community and compliment those already here.” “If the bridge was already there, we’d like to be breaking ground now,” Prondzinski said. Prondzinski was in attendance again Monday night but no discussion took place prior to the council’s 5-0 vote to move forward. Other highlights of the purchase agreement include: – The city will have an American Land Title Association sur-
City Council
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B.P. School Board Narrows Field for Superintendent Search Public Interviews Begin Today at Oak Crest
Shelton said Belle Plaine’s re- The Belle Plainie School quest would help the city’s cash Board trimmed the field of canflow of the project. The city didates from 22 applicants to five semifinalists during a speScott County cial meeting Monday night. (continued on page 4) The field includes candidates that know Belle Plaine well plus potential newcomers to the area and a superintendent’s job. The school board and a committee of community members will separately interview decided. Lenz said he will not the five semifinalists tonight seek re-election to the school (Wednesday, Aug. 5) beginning at 4 p.m. at Oak Crest Elemenboard. Steinhagen sought appoint- tary School. ment to the board last year af- The committee of community ter Director Matt Bigaouette members will interview the canresigned. The board selected didates behind closed doors and O’Brien to fill the remainder of provide written comment on the semi-finalists to the board. the term. committee includes Steinhagen previously served The two two-year terms on the Dave Kreft, junior-senior high school board from 2010 through school principal; Abby Volek, elementary school teacher, 2013. Kim Gwodziewicz, elementary Election Day is Nov. 3.
Steinhagen Files for School Board Race Former Belle Plaine School Board member Gary Steinhagen is the lone candidate so far for one of three seats on the school board in the fall general election as the filing period remains open until Tuesday (Aug. 11, 5 p.m.). Each of the three seats carries a four-year term. Directors Tracy O’Brien, Mike Ludvik and Matt Lenz hold the current seats. O’Brien said she plans to file for election. Ludvik is un-
sides of the highway, including an extended Enterprise Drive. That’s the plan now in place and the two parcels the city had set aside to make room for the original overpass/interchange plan will be purchased for $1 by Ridgeview Medical Center. Monday’s vote to okay the agreement was unanimous. One of the main reasons Mn/ DOT would not allow an overpass/interchange where Highway 169 directly connects with County Road 3 is that it’s not spaced far enough from the existing overpass/interchange in Belle Plaine. In return for selling the land for a buck, Ridgeview agrees to begin construction of a medical clinic building on the property “within a reasonable period of time” following the start of construction of the city’s adjacent bridge project. On May 18, when the council
school teacher, Justin Johnston, senior high teacher, Dawn Underferth, BPESP Union president; Alicia Potter, para-professional; Nicole Koepp, school nurse, para-professional; Amanda Berg, para-professional; Jessica Kirchner, parent, PTO president; Monica Nordby, parent, sign language interpreter; Gary Steinhagen, parent, school board candidate; Mike Daly, business owner; Judy Nagel, educator. Their written comments on the interviews will also remain private. The last interview with the board is slated to be completed around 10:30 p.m. The school board will then meet and name two or three finalists for the superintendent’s job for another round of interviews Aug. 12-13, 5 p.m., at Oak Crest Elementary School.
‘Excellent’ Options
“We have five excellent candidates,” said Ed Waltman, a consultant with the South Central Services Cooperative. “It was clear to us there were five candidates that separated themselves.”
The semi-finalists include Karsten Anderson, the current superintendent of Red Wing School District and former superintendent in the WatertownMayer School District; Tim Anderson, an assistant superintendent in the Bloomington School District; Liann Hanson, the current principal at Oak Crest Elementary School; Ryan Laager, an assistant superintendent in the Stillwater School District; and Marsha Baisch, an assistant superintendent in the St. Cloud and St. Paul school districts. Karsten Anderson has 17 years experience as a superintendent. He has worked as a principal and also taught math and computer science. Tim Anderson has a year as an assistant superintendent on his resume. He has also worked for seven years a director of teaching and learning in Bloomington and two years a dean of students in Bloomington. He also taught for six years in Eden
School Board
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Business Merger Takes Place Downtown
Crash, Fire at 169 Intersection Belle Plaine firefighters and police responded to a two-car crash Sunday afternoon at the intersection of Highway 169 and Delaware Avenue (County Road 59) in St. Lawrence Township. The crash closed the intersection, which was already busy with traffic leaving the Scott-Carver Threshers Festival. The crash occurred at 4:05 p.m. when a vehicle heading south on Highway 169 occupied by a driver and passenger hit a vehicle heading north on the highway making a left turn onto Delaware Avenue. The driver of the northbound vehicle failed to yield the right of way to the southbound vehicle, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. The southbound vehicle caught fire after the crash. The three people involved were all transported to St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee by ambulance. Two of them had serious injuries and one had minor injuries, according to the state patrol. Names of the vehicles’ occupants were not released.
Peter Schoeppner and Curtis Koepp have announced the merger of Koepp Accounting and Tax (Curtis G. Koepp Ltd.) of Belle Plaine with Schoeppner & Associates of Le Sueur. As of Aug. 1, Koepp Accounting and Tax are operating under the name Schoeppner & Associates. Office locations are at 100 East Main Street in Belle Plaine and 228 South Main Street in Le Sueur. Koepp and Schoeppner stated in a press release that “merging these two certified public accounting firms will not be difficult because they are very similar in nature and have comparable clients. “Both firms are looking forward to the merger and continuing to assist the clients with their tax and financial accounting needs,” continued the press release. Koepp, the owner of Koepp Accounting and Tax, has been a practicing certified public accountant for over 25 years. His
business has worked closely planning, full payroll services, with Schoeppner & Associates business compilations, review on various business, estate and and audit services. tax issues for the last 15 years. “With the growing business By merging with Schoeppner Business Merger & Associates, the Belle Plaine office will be able to offer ad(continued on page 14) ditional services in financial
Curtis Koepp, left, and Peter Schoeppner have merged their businesses. The business is now known as Schoeppner & Associates.