Scott West Wrestlers Have Big Week Ahead
Boys’ Hoops Team Continues Busiest Part of Season Page 11
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B.P. Girl Earns National Honor Page 11
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, february 1, 2017
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 5
‘Citizens of Belle Plaine’ Group and Others Will be Represented at City Council Meeting Feb. 6
Norm Pint is stepping down as the Scott County Fair’s general manager. Hired in late-2013, he led the county fair’s staff in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Scott County Fair’s GM Says The Time for Family First Has Come
Norm Pint Stepping Down
He may be at the county fair this summer, but only if he wants to be there. The county fair’s general manager has decided the time has come to put his family first and the daily grind of organizing the five best days of summer in the rear view mirror. Norm Pint announced his decision to step down from the general manager’s post last fall. He wrapped up the final details of his tenure last week. The country-style kitchen table that was a trademark of Pint’s management style has been removed from his office at the fairgrounds. Pint fancied the table because, as he said, “you can get more work done at the kitchen table.” The work done at the ‘kitchen table’ in Pint’s corner office led the Scott County Fair in 2014, ‘15 and ’16. Pint was brought in to lead the fair in Decem-
ber of 2013 and clean up some loose ends a year after longtime county fair GM Jim Luce retired. Pint isn’t leaving because of dissatisfaction with the decisions from the fair board or a better job offer. He wants to spend more time with his family. Requests from his children and grandchildren for weekend outings the past few summers have been put behind work related to preparing the fairgrounds in St. Lawrence Township for 20,000-plus guests in July. At 66, Pint says his health is good. But he wants to put his family first before Father Time catches up with him. He has relatives living at Kingsway Retirement Living in Belle Plaine. “The clock is a tickin’,” he said. “I could do this another year, but it would be another year of not doing what I want to do. You only get one chance at a family. I just needed to get away.” Pint may still help out at the fairgrounds with his wife, Lori, preparing the commercial arts
building next summer where the talents of local artists and craftsmen are displayed. But any time he spends at the fair will be of his choosing.
‘Deep Under Cover’
“I won’t be wearing the white shirt,” he said of the fair board’s uniforms. “I’ll be deep under cover.” Pint took the job in 2013 knowing the first order of business was to complete the requirements of grants before a missed deadline would have prevented the fair from applying for additional grants. The fair board and members of the Scott County Agricultural Society that run it rely on state grants to help pay for new programs fair board members hope will attract a new audience. One of the more popular attractions the grants helped fund was the historical society trailer where people could offer oral histories before the information was lost to time. “I have a pretty good idea of
by Dan Ruud The Belle Plaine City Council is expecting more guests than usual next Monday evening (Feb. 6) as many people have vowed to make their voices heard on the subject of the recent removal of the cross from a display at Veterans Memorial Park in Belle Plaine. A “Citizens of Belle Plaine” advertisement on page 10 asks community members to attend next Monday’s council meeting, stating “our veterans defended us, and we must defend them.” “This issue will be on the agenda as requested by a local representative of the group,” said Belle Plaine Mayor Chris Meyer. “He will present for the whole group since this is not a public hearing. The city is continuing to research several issues regarding Veterans Park, both from the legal aspect as well as a policy review standpoint.” Meyer added that there will be additional information available at next Monday’s council meeting. The cross was removed by the city and Belle Plaine Veterans Club a couple of weeks ago after members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), based in Wisconsin, demanded that the action be taken because the law clearly states that religious symbols are not allowed on government-owned prop-
erty. Belle Plaine City Attorney Bob Vose recommended that the cross be removed to avoid potentially costly legal action by the FFRF. The memorial the cross was a part of was made by the late-Joe Gregory, a U.S. Marine veteran. Gregory created the memorial to honor those who served and died for their country. Some of those people in attendance next Monday could be those who signed an online petition (RETURN OUR CROSS NOW) demanding that the permanent cross be returned. The petition states: Out-of-State atheists have no right to tell our town how to live and JoAnne Gill does not get to make decisions for the entire city. To avoid a recall campaign of elected members of the city, we as citizens of Belle Plaine demand the city council return our cross to Veterans Park NOW and issue a formal apology to us, your fellow citizens. As of noon Monday, the petition had mustered some 1,300 signatures. How many of those signers or others will be at next Monday’s council meeting is not known. A spokesperson from the FFRF told the Herald last week that they do not plan to have a representative at the council meeting next Monday. She said “the level of hysteria” this issue has created in Belle Plaine could create a safety issue, but that the foundation really needs
“no” representation because the Constitution of the United States is on their side - “plain and simple,” she continued. The FFRF’s complaint to the city of Belle Plaine reads: “In Veterans Memorial Park in the city of Belle Plaine, Minn., there is a display of a soldier kneeling before a Latin cross next to the Veterans Memorial Stone. This display was reportedly added to the park very recently. “We certainly have no objection to veterans’ memorials,” continued the complaint. “But it is unlawful for a city government to display patently religious symbols on city property, even to commemorate our veterans. It shows an endorsement of religion over non-religion. Additionally, the memorial sends a message that the government cares only about the death of Christian soldiers and is disdainful of the sacrifices made by non-Christian and nonreligious soldiers, since it excludes the one-third of the population that identifies as such. Please act appropriately and move the religious display off city property.” The FFRF, following a complaint in 2015 about the Belle Plaine Rotary Club’s Nativity Scene being located on police department property, was successful in that display being relocated to private property this past holiday season.
Norm Pint
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Once Land Swap Done, Grassy Area Could Replace Old Tennis Courts
If the city and Belle Plaine School District are able to successfully exchange the dilapidated tennis courts for ice rinks later this year, the old courts between the junior-senior high school and community pool will likely be replaced by a grassy area. Superintendent Ryan Laager updated the school board Monday night (Jan. 30) on plans to complete a land swap between the school district and city. The district would exchange the old tennis courts it owns at the intersection of Prairie and Market streets for the ice hockey and pleasure skating rinks the city owns at the intersection of Market and Park streets. The city council already OK’d beginning the procedural process for the land swap. Laager told the board the district wants to support whatever can be done to ensure the courts will be removed. He hopes city crews could work on removing the unusable tennis courts. The district would be willing to share in the cost of removing the courts and replacing them with a grassy area until the city decided what to do with the space, Laager told the board.
The district has no immediate plans to replace the rinks, Laager said. They could be used for activities like broomball or skating. The rink has also served as a dog park during the summer. Laager said he would have a resolution approving the district’s share of the land split after the city council OK’d its portion of the swap. In other action at the Jan. 30 meeting, the Belle Plaine School Board: • Paid bills totaling $4,724,151.01. • Hired Sherryl Rotert, paraprofessional, for $14.22 per hour for 90 days at 4 hours per day. • Hired Devin Lehmann as
first assistant track coach for $2,382 per year. • Hired John Schimon as adjunct track coach at $982 per year. • Granted an employee leave request for Melissa Hollnagel from approximately April 3 through April 24. • Accept the resignation of Jennifer Parks, paraprofessional. • Approved a Belle Plaine kindergartner attending Jordan schools. • Approved a Belle Plaine sixth-grader attending Waconia Dr. Bloodgood, played by Jonah Meyer, addresses all those who will listen during his traveling schools. medicine show in BPHS’s performance of “Radium Cure for the Broken Hearted.” • Approve a Chaska 12thgrader attending Belle Plaine schools. • Heard an update on the Kids
School Board
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Chamber, EDA to Hold Gala-Palooza Feb. 16
The Belle Plaine Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Authority will hold their annual Gala-Palooza event in appreciation of local business owners on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at Matt Saxe Chevrolet Buick in Belle Plaine. Music will be provided by singer, songwriter and guitar-
ist Matthew Griswold. There will also be hearty appetizers, networking and refreshments. The cost, for which you can pay at the door, is $15 per person. Dress business casual. You are asked to RSVP by Wednesday, Feb. 8 by calling 952-873-4295 or online at http://whoozin.com/DQMDQP-JH3H.
BPHS One-Act Play Puts on ‘Model’ Performance, Wins Subsection Public Performance 7 P.M. This Thursday
by Dan Ruud Belle Plaine High School’s one-act play took first place at Saturday’s six-school Section 2A, Subsection 8 Festival at Jordan High School and will advance to this Saturday’s eightschool section competition at Le Sueur-Henderson High School. Other schools competing in the subsection were Jordan, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, Le Sueur-Henderson, Sibley East and Tri-City United.
Jordan took second place and will join Belle Plaine at Saturday’s section festival, where only the top play will advance to next Friday’s (Feb. 10) Minnesota State High School League Class 1A Festival at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium on the campus of St. Catherine University in St. Paul. Other schools competing in Le Sueur Saturday will be Medford, Mankato Loyola, Maple River, Mountain Lake, St. Peter and Sleepy Eye. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. and Belle Plaine is scheduled to go
on stage at 10 a.m. Each show lasts approximately 35 minutes. The cost is $6 for adults and $4 for students. Those costs apply regardless of how many plays you watch. This year’s BPHS play, “Radium Cure for the Broken Hearted,” is the story of a young girl who comes to a rural town in the early 1900s and finds it difficult to fit in. The townsfolk consider this outsider odd and refuse to treat her kindly, reflecting the
One-Act Play
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