Letters to Santa
13
Michael Kroells Takes On NCCA’s Top Heavyweight Page 13
Pages 15-20 ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THIRD YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, DECEMBER 24, 2014
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 52
B.P. School Board Picks O’Brien to Fill Vacated Board Seat She’ll be Sworn-in Jan. 12
It Was Another Busy Season for Santa in Belle Plaine One of Santa’s and Mrs. Claus’ first stops this holiday season was at the Hooper-BowlerHillstrom Historical House on Dec. 4 for what was an Old-Fashioned Christmas celebration, where they got the opportunity the meet Amanda Vinkemeier and many other local children. Santa’s stops didn’t end there as he also participated in Holiday Express at the high school on Dec. 6 and later in the month took up residency several times in his Santa House downtown. He also visited with children at the Belle Plaine Public Library.
City Water, Sewer Rates to Go Up 30 Percent Again in 2015 by Dan Ruud As was the case last year and projected again for 2015, the rates you pay for water and sewer services in Belle Plaine will increase significantly starting Jan. 1. The Belle Plaine City Council last week voted 3-1 (Mayor Mike Pingalore was absent) to approve the city’s 2015 fee schedule, which includes 30 percent increases in water and sewer rates. Council Member Gary Trost, who accounted for the only no vote, said he was disappointed that discussion regarding the proposed water and sewer rate increases did not occur in more detail before last Monday’s (Dec. 15) meeting. Acting Mayor Scott Schneider and council members Cary
Coop and Paul Chard voted in favor of the revised fee schedule and rate hikes. No one from the audience spoke at the public hearing that preceded the council’s action. The water and sewer rate increases for 2015 came as no big surprise to the council. At the last council meeting of 2013, the council unanimously approved increases for those services in 2014 by 36 percent, and at the same time was informed by city staff that similar hikes may have to come in 2015 through 2018 in order to fully replenish the city’s lagging water and sewer funds. Even Trost said last December that “if we raised it (water and sewer) 100 percent, we’d still be cheaper than New Prague. We may have to raise it 36 per-
cent again next year (for 2015) if things don’t change.” Last Monday night, Trost did not say he was opposed to the increase for 2015, just that “it should have been discussed more.” Schneider said the increases for 2015 were talked about at budget workshops. The 36 percent hike authorized by the council last year resulted in an increase in the monthly utility bill for the city average of 4,000-gallon usage from approximately $43.52 in 2013 to $54.13 in 2014. This latest increase will up the same usage rate from $54.13 to about $62.93, resulting in a monthly increase of almost $20 in two
City Water
(continued on page 3)
As B.P. Librarian, Gansen’s Career Nearing End of the Story She’ll Spend Time With Grandchildren, Volunteering in Community
Georgine Gansen is looking forward to the next chapter in her life. It’ll be spent with her grandchildren and friends and books. She’s already begun a countdown to retirement. Gansen will retire Jan. 2 as the branch librarian at the Belle Plaine branch of the Scott County Library. A retirement party in her honor is set for Jan. 3 (Saturday, 4:30-8 p.m.) at Borough Bowl,
Georgine Gansen
Ross Nesbit Agencies Buys Former Fahey Sales Building Ross Nesbit Agencies in Belle Plaine will relocate from 124 West Main Street downtown to 111 South Meridian Street at the start of 2015. According to Jay Nesbit of Ross Nesbit Agencies’ main office in Eden Prairie, the purchase of the building, which was owned for many years by Fahey Sales Agency, has already been finalized and Ross Nesbit Agencies will move in Jan. 1. Nesbit said Edina Realty will
continue as a tenant in the building. Fahey Sales Agency also operated an office in the building until relocating to Glencoe two years ago. Fahey Sales Agency still meets with clients in the building from time to time through its affiliation with Edina Realty. Another former tenant of 111 South Meridian Street, Diane Skelley of Farmers Insurance,
Ross Nesbit
(continued on page 8)
235 Ash Street S., in Belle Plaine. When she’s not helping people find a book, magazine, or use one of the public-access computers, Gansen has most recently been accepting congratulations from library patrons and friends who stop by the library at the corner of West Main and South Willow streets. In 20 years, Gansen has built something of a fan club. “She’s perfect for the library,” said Dick Peterson, a member of the Belle Plaine Friends of the Library. “People feel comfortable when she’s there. She’s very outgoing and helpful.” She enjoys people sitting around reading the newspaper and sharing quiet conversation. Gansen’s not the type to shush people. “Georgine runs a pretty loose ship around here,” said Jenny Dvorak, an associate librarian who splits time between Belle Plaine and other branch libraries. “Some people don’t come in for books. They come in to see Georgine.” Dvorak started working in the library as a “shelfer” back in
As B.P. Librarian (continued on page 6)
Selecting someone who’ll learn the particulars of the job as she goes and is willing to run for a four-year term next fall, the Belle Plaine School Board selected Tracy O’Brien to fill the last year of Matt Bigaouette’s term Wednesday night (Dec. 19). By a 3-2 vote, the board picked O’Brien over former board member Gary Steinhagen. Directors Matt Lenz, Dan Giesen and Joe Vandermark voted for O’Brien. She will be sworn-in to the school board at its organizational meeting Jan. 12. “I’m certainly honored by being chosen to serve on the board,” she said Thursday morning. Bigaouette resigned his seat on
Tracy O’Brien the board last month to dedicate more time to family and work. The board favored the appointment process rather than incur the cost of a special election to select someone to serve for a single year. “I think I can speak for the
board and say the entire board was well pleased with the qualifications of both candidates and felt either one would have been a good choice,” said Mike Ludvik, the school board’s acting chairperson. Steinhagen was elected to two year terms on the school board in the fall of 2009 and 2011. He did not seek re-election in 2013 and said if selected to fill Bigaouette’s spot on the board, he is “99 percent sure” he would not seek re-election to a fouryear term next year. O’Brien said she would consider running for a four-year term next fall. She wants to see more collaboration between the board and PTO. O’Brien has served seven years on the parent-teacher organization (PTO), six as president of the organization that
B.P. School Board (continued on page 2)
Lutheran Home Requests No Visitors The Lutheran Home Belle Plaine Campus has confirmed cases of Influenza A. For the safety of its residents, it is asking for no visitors at this time. Please contact The Lutheran Home with questions or concerns.
Flu Bug Hits Younger Students Especially Hard This Year
The winter break came just at the right time and hopefully, Belle Plaine elementary school students will use the time to ward off the flu bug that has students out sick around the Twin Cities in huge numbers. Last week, Chatfield averaged over 50 students a day out sick with the flu bug, a significant increase over the previous week, said Belle Plaine School District Superintendent Kelly Smith. Over six teachers a day called in sick or were home taking care of their own sick children last week. He said the levels of absenteeism at Oak Crest and the juniorsenior high schools were not nearly as severe as at Chatfield. The school houses the district’s public preschool, kindergarten, first- and second-graders. “It really did hit our younger students and their families hard,” Smith said. At Our Lady of the Prairie, a small number of students missed school because of the flu bug last week. None of theschool’s staff called in sick. Trinity Lutheran Principal Daniel Whitney reported his school only had a couple of students and a no staff out last week. “We’ve been very fortunate,” he said. Students are encouraged to take the recommended precautions against spreading the flu virus -- covering a cough, washing hands and staying home if a person is ill. Health officials continue to urge people to get flu shots, even though the vaccine is thought to be less effective than normal against the strain of influenza hitting young children and the elderly this season.
Pat Ollhoff and the volunteers at the Belle Plaine Area Food Shelf will use generous donations like the one from the Chard Companies and its employees to prepare and distribute 36 Christmas dinners for Belle Plaine and area families. The food shelf also distributed dozens of Thanksgiving meals for families last month.
Chard Companies, Staff Make Generous Donation to Food Shelf LeRoy and Connie Chard and the employees of Chard Tiling & Excavating, Sibley Aggregates and Rivers Edge Concrete recently made a generous monetary donation to the Belle Plaine Area Food Shelf. The donation from employees and matching money from Connie and LeRoy Chard is just over $10,000. The companies tripled their employees’ donations and rounded up the amount to $10,240. “We very much appreciate our employees for doing that,” said Connie Chard. The donation is one of the largest the Belle Plaine Area Food Shelf has ever received from a single company, said Pat Ollhoff, a member of the food shelf’s board of directors. “We have received several donations from a lot of wonder-
ful and generous people in the Belle Plaine community,” he said. The food shelf continues to give out food every week and recently averaged giving out a ton of food a week. It is open five hours a week. This week, three-dozen Belle Plaine and area families will receive food for Christmas dinner. The dinner includes an ample-sized turkey and all the trimmings. With donations to families at the Thanksgiving holiday, the food shelf donated over 70 dinners. “We receive donations from companies and people that give $50 to $100 every month or every other month,” Ollhoff said. “We appreciate everyone’s donations that we need to keep the food shelf going.”