Boys’ Hoops Team Wins Two of Three
Oak Crest Students Earn Microwave Shopping Trip
Scott West Has Busy Schedule Upcoming
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ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIFTH YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, JANUARY 13, 2016
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NUMBER 2
City Council, P&Z Hold Joint Meeting on Solar Gardens Solar Company Proposing to Build Facility on 40-Acre Site by Dan Ruud The Belle Plaine City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission met jointly last Monday night (Jan. 4) in an attempt to gain more understanding of the impacts of a proposed solar power energy facility in Belle Plaine. TruNorth Solar of the Twin Cities is the latest such company to inquire about Belle
Plaine’s interest in jumping on the solar bandwagon that is charging across Minnesota and elsewhere in the nation. Pat Wier and Mike Kampmeyer of TruNorth were in attendance, as was Trisha Rosenfeld, who represents Xcel Energy. TruNorth Solar is proposing to build a 40-acre solar field adjacent to the western boundary of the city limits. The property, which is located northwest of South Street, is owned by sisters Kim Devine-Johnson and Tammy Devine. Belle Plaine City Administrator Holly Kreft said there would be no cost to the city and that the endeavor would be an investment by the solar com-
pany. A solar garden is a solar electric array with multiple subscribers connected to the utility grid. The subscribers may purchase a portion of the power produced by the array and receive a credit on their electric bill. Utility customers within the solar facility’s service area, including residences, businesses, local governments, non-profits and faith-based organizations, can all subscribe. According to TruNorth, “community solar projects allow electric consumers to receive the benefits of solar energy
City Council
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After a huge 2015, Ryan Dungey has started 2016 on the Wheaties box.
Ryan Dungey Standing Tall as First Motocross Racer on Wheaties Box After a phenomenal 2015 run that saw him winning titles in both Motocross and Supercross, Wheaties has announced that Ryan Dungey will be the next athlete featured on the iconic orange box. Already a highly-acclaimed rider, Dungey’s year further solidified his claim to be the first Motocross champion on the cover of the Wheaties box. Last July, Dungey became the first motocross racer ever to win an ESPN “ESPY” Award for Best Male Action Sports Athlete of the Year. “Ryan has been an extremely valued member of Team Wheaties over the past few years,” said Stephanie Moffat,
associate marketing manager for Wheaties. “We couldn’t be more proud to honor someone who’s shown time and again that he’s a champion on and off the track.” Dungey, the son of Troy and Michelle Dungey of Belle Plaine, is married to Lindsay (Siegle) Dungey, a 2009 graduate of Belle Plaine High School. Dungey is the current 450cc class Monster Energy Supercross champion and AMA 450 Motocross champion. He and Lindsay currently reside in Tallahassee, Fla., where Dungey can train year-round. After turning pro in 2006, Dungey quickly proved he was
one of the best riders in the world. By the age of 21, he secured every title his sport has to offer. And in 2015, almost a decade into his professional career, Dungey dominated the competition to take home Supercross and Motocross championships. “It’s definitely a very exciting moment, getting to be on the Wheaties box. I can’t tell you how many times my brother and I sat there joking about, you know, one day that’s going to be me on the box,” said Dungey. “To be the first Motocross racer on the box is definitely an amazing moment. I think it’s huge for all of us, so I’m very, very thankful.”
B.P. School District Talking Solar Energy For Savings, Learning Tradeoff: Solar Panels on Schools for Fixed Rate
The odds of Belle Plaine School District buildings hosting solar panels may be small, but the district is talking with an alternative energy company about a swap between sunfriendly locations and fixed rates for electricity in the years to come. At Monday’s school board workshop, Superintendent Ryan Laager informed the board of preliminary discussions with Twin Cities-based Cedar Creek Energy. The company is interested in sites for solar panels that would generate electricity. The company would guarantee the school district a fixed rate per-kilowatt hour in its facilities in the years to come in ex-
change for the locations. “Frankly, we have a lot of roof space,” Laager said. “There’s a lot of incentive for the district.” He said a windmill on the grounds at Oak Crest has even been informally mentioned as a possibility. The idea seemingly has no legs since “some see them as an eyesore,” Laager said. Cedar Creek Energy would pay for the solar panels, their installation and maintenance, Laager said. If the district had a roofing project that required the temporary removal of the panels, the superintendent told the board the company would remove the solar panels. Laager told the board he would not recommend approval of any proposal that wasn’t at least “cost-neutral” to the school district. The school district is hoping for rates of 9 cents per kilo-
watt hour or lower. It currently pays between 9 and 12 cents per hour. The school district spent $239,000 on electricity in 2015. Savings aside, Laager said he wants to incorporate the science and technology of the solar panel plan into the school district’s classrooms. He said the alternative energy field would have jobs Belle Plaine students could one day potentially fill. The company and school district will continue to discuss the proposal in additional meetings. Laager said he would notify the board if the discussions lead to a formal plan for board
School District (continued on page 4)
Tom Flowers and Tom Grengs (right) will represent Johan’s Sports Bar & Grill at Saturday’s chili cook-off at Oak Crest Elementary School. The event is a fund-raiser for the Wizardz, a Special Olympics team of Belle Plaine and area athletes.
Belle Plaine Area Cooks Enjoy Competition, Good Chili Locals Offer Best Recipes for Wizardz Benefit
They admittedly don’t know much about Special Olympics, only that it provides an opportunity for special athletes to compete. Tom Grengs and Tom Flowers enjoy competition. The two men, cooks at Johan’s Sports Bar in downtown Belle Plaine, will be among as many as 10 cooks offering their best chili recipes Saturday for a fund-raiser benefiting a local Special Olympics team, the Wizardz. The chili cook-off will be held Saturday (Jan. 16, 5-8 p.m.) at Oak Crest Elementary School, 1101 Commerce Drive W. in Belle Plaine. The judging will be around 5 p.m. The judges are local police officers and city officials in some of the communities where Wizardz Special Olympians live. Teams from Sparetime Tavern, Coborn’s Superstore, Jordan Supper Club, the Feed Mill in Jordan and the Roadhaus in Henderson are among the eight to 10 teams expected to compete. Desserts will also be available. Grengs and Flowers will prepare a white chicken chili. It includes green peppers, cayenne pepper and other spices. It’s similar to the chili they prepare at the sports bar. The difference, the two cooks say, is many common chili recipes include red ground beef.
There recipe, Grengs said, is unique. “We wanted to do something different. It’ll blow their socks off,” Flowers said. Besides the ingredients themselves, an important element to the good chili is time, time to let the spices permeate the other ingredients in the chili. They’ll let their chili simmer for about three hours before the tasting begins.
“You put it all together and wait,” Grengs said. Grengs has been working in kitchens for a few dozen years. He got his first job in the kitchen at an assisted living home in Hopkins when he was 14. He’s been in the kitchen manager at
Good Chili
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Emil Ashauer Dies at Age 102 One of Belle Plaine’s most enduring residents and civic leaders died last Tuesday (Jan. 5) at the age of 102. Emil Ashauer, who was living at Kingsway Retirement Living in Belle Plaine, was grand marshal of Belle Plaine’s 1989 Bar-B-Q Days and 2014 German Days parades, the latter of which he rode with his second wife, Viola Dahlke, who was 95 years old at the time. They were easily the oldest couple to ever lead a parade in Belle Plaine. Even well into his 90s, Ashauer drove each year between Belle Plaine and his winter home in Texas. Ashauer was born June 5, 1913 on his family’s farm in Lidgerwood, N.D. His parents were Herman and Marie Ashauer, who raised six kids. Shortly after his 100th birthday in 2013, Ashauer explained that he was just a kid when his dad eventually stumbled upon Belle Plaine. “He was a tailor who learned his trade in the old country (Germany),” he said. “He had come over, got married, and
when he heard how rich the North Dakota farmers were, he went there and that’s where I was born. But then he found out the North Dakota farmers weren’t getting rich and he went back to tailoring.” Eventually, the family found their way to Belle Plaine, where Ashauer’s father bought out the local tailor. Emil, a 1931 graduate of Belle
Ashauer
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