FILLMORE COUNTY JOURNAL
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TOBACCO FREE Continued from Page 1
chewing by an employee driving a truck is not hurting anybody. Amunrud asked his colleagues to look at the broader picture and the language in the state public health rules. Compliance for grant funding includes all tobacco use, the elimination or reduction of tobacco use. Kaase questioned whether we will be looking at what people eat for lunch next? Bakke insisted that employees should be made aware of the proposed policy before it is put into place so we can get their feedback. A motion was approved to make department heads responsible for informing employees of the proposed policy and to get their input. Then, it will be discussed at a Department Head Committee meeting before coming back to the county board. Root River Watershed Donna Rasmussen, SWCD, requested the board’s support for the county’s participation in a cooperative effort to develop a watershed plan for the Root River Watershed with five other counties including Mower, Olmsted, Winona, Houston, and Dodge. Updates to local water management plans in Fillmore, Mower, and Winona counties must be completed in 2015 and in Houston County in 2017. Rasmussen said there already is informal cooperation and communication
Monday, April 7, 2014
between the counties. Nearly half of the Root River watershed area lies within Fillmore County. The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) is asking for requests throughout the state for watershed areas that want to participate in the “One Watershed One Plan.” Funding will be available for the pilot project chosen to develop the watershed plan. If the grant is awarded it will be used to hire a consulting firm to write the plan. A joint powers agreement including SWCDs and the counties would govern the plan. Local county governments will still have local control. The plan would encompass all monitoring projects. The board voted to sign a letter of support for cooperation with other counties in developing the Root River Watershed plan. Other business in brief •The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers to be in compliance by January, 2015. Kristina Kohn reported that 70 percent of employees (it was originally 95 percent) that work 30 or more hours a week have to be offered health insurance to be in compliance. Kohn said the county currently has 152 employees that work 30 or more hours and if you add intermittent employees, that number increases to 158. The county offers coverage to the 152 employees now and even if no changes are made that will put
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the county at 96 percent and in compliance. Kohn noted that the intermittent employees do not have the opportunity to purchase health insurance through the county’s group plan, but they could go to the MNsure website. •The board approved the removal of the 2,500 gallon per day bottling limit in Section 735 of the Zoning Ordinance dealing with extraction of water for water bottling purposes. A public hearing was held on March 20 at the Planning Commission which recommended the change in the ordinance. Zoning Administer Chris Graves explained that demand for bottled water is much higher in the summer, adding state safeguards are in place. The state requires a water appropriation grow with
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permit if water use is over 10,000 gallons per day or over 1 million gallons per year. The DNR monitors water bottling facilities. In order to establish a water bottling business within the county a conditional use permit is required. •Two conditional use permits to erect AT&T communication towers to improve cellular coverage were approved as recommended by the Planning Commission after public hearings. Graves said both requests meet all set back requirements and leased space on the towers will be made available to other cell phone providers. A 295 foot tower will be located in Section 34, Fillmore Township (Affeldt property) and a 280 foot tower will be located in Section 22, Beaver Township (Ullom property).
Monday, Janu
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Volume 29
Issue 19
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m a progra Rushford Vill nt ion Music/dram ics Weekly Edit Master’s hero g’s receives paveme ble during been a lessons availa nin plan Piano/guitar I shoulda annul Man management kicker M-C student • school hours page 14 vesratio the off tatier to teach lan l Wyk page 8 reprntesen Check out • s small stude Valley l Wha rt Progres l Spring nce page 4 give repo 2013-2014 ford Village (tuition assista l Rush ay’s nable tuition ford 3 tod e reaso in Rush pag l • ble) Edition l Preston may be availa r l Peterson Journal el l Ostrande ment, equip round sboro l Mab playg l Lanell field Excelllent ony • tain Harmand softba l Founsoccer field, Chatfield t grainCanton l for active paren l amount of ns opportunities reduce the actua s education 13.01 gallo d • Multiple in their child’ ethanol to R eisneR -base participation
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based By K ARen ber for grain ns). 0 ff, MN 5599 (last year’s num rnal.com billion gallo Street, Wyko orecountyjou been ol was 13.8 l.com karen @fillm 245 South Line cil at ethan EPA proposals have (60 oms, stjhnsch@ hmte City Coun The 671 • Email packet, to visit our classro ic comment The Preston21 meeting authoof 507-352-4 ation nted for publ for an inform school. the rural areas call or email or to tour our their January inistrator Joe Hoff- prese until January 28. council They serve ore and Winona in Adm lf days) City rates the city Fillm beha s , ric on rized citie ston elect letter Hou POET asked suggest the ding the The lowest 2012 came from to draft a - origin. ethnic al orFoun manf, MN ties, inclu to the Envi for their support. They e would nation cil coun on, in and n coun Cant Wykof color, Re But, . volum race, nsville, South Linerding Street, seth the natio of the city Agency to of Louisiana students of any of Brow Acco h, 241 By JAson on its ction in the Protection an Churc greatanstate School admitswereSt.8.37 Houston. theLuther om John Luther ronmental Mayor Kurt Reicks redu the plant to scale back serve ric rates tain, and rted by tion countyjournal.c St. Johns l is suppo they “also cities the elect e Schoo whil an be signed by inued support for causeuction. n Luther jason @fillmore dthe consump Johns the to Krambeer, money. St.Whe ks had atten cents/kWh, percent above the wholesale power to Harmony, asking for contbiofuels. Council- prod 39 Power costs business owners Mayor Reic with the Minnea, Eitzen, was nearly homegrown Maust was absent. ing e of Caledoni Mabel, Peterson, ve their average. residents and the ed a meet of Agricultur County receithey see national ounty Electric man Robert of last year, e sota Department d the concern Lanesboro, Spring Grove, and of Fillmore mber Tri-C bills, y volum In Nove and note es Cooperative nty area, Rushford, monthly utilitcost of their conosed reducing The (MDA) reduction in volum prop . seaCou EPA gress the lan.” ore have Con Wha the firsthand economic set by , they do In the Fillm Cooperaobligations d reduced the total that d have a negative a loss of With TEC uation, so the sumption. does your utility Tri-County Electric and indiwoul 5 woul in fluct t proposal e from 18.1 and resul that sonal rate in the and August ) directly But, how able fuel volum billion gal- impact tive (TEC A forecasts with others number of of June, July bill comparethe nation? Specifi- rectly serves the most ric utility. months idered peak summer- renewn gallons to 15.21 also has jobs. The MDa loss of 1,500 jobs billio could be . The EPA region and le is going to focus customers of any elect to TEC are cons for energy consump s the state lons for 2014 cing the volume of there d to biofuels acros omic loss. According d e n t / months cally, this articl electric rates. l proposed redu els, those required relatea $610 million econ Presi tion. interon residentiaNational Averages mon residentia C E O advanced biofu50 percent improve- and s said any individualcan do The most comcustomers (rural State and average monthly n Reick ents a e least i r “at hous B comm to be s/kWh Unitrate for TEC in sending The 2012 ine for green K r a m - service) is 13.00 cent ial) in the report ment to gasol,” from 3.75 billion ested June, July, a bill (resident ks months of beer, based on Energy gas emissions billion gallons. This so. ADA Crosswal during the st. During the other ed States proposed 2.2 d U.S. has to ty ns woul the gallo when and Augu of biofuels Fillmore Coun meet American provided by Administration of the year, advanced poolosed 17 million galmonths out umption is less, p-outs” to Information with an average include a prop ethanol and 1.28 “bum energy cons cents/kWh. was $107.28 umption of 903 losic Page 14 lons of cellu of bio-based diesel. the rate is 10.5 See PRESTON on the 2012 monthly conss (kWh) at a rate d n gallons So, based thly con- billio additional proposals woul kilowatt hour /kWh. average mon These of 11.88 cents ta, the average n of 793 kWh ptio sum ta, your In Minneso umption in in Minneso ounty cons s Tri-C hour monthly kilowatt average Coopera/kWh 2012 was 793 Electric 11.35 cents ld run at a rate of ge monthly bill tive bill woumonth first parts parts. The for an avera In neighboring $106.27 per ice or include six clearly defined disof $90.06. Iowa, the rate Rg for city servmonth needed are ol site goals and RodenBu states like 10.82 cents/ By A ngie n and $115.27 perce. om trict and scho at for instructioall stuservi was lower was l countyjournal.c onsin for rura benchmarks for “city, angie @fillmore kWh, and Wisc ol Board student achievement also offers ial, 13.82 Scho at TEC er ston s. ary 21. The Hou much high Obviously, small commerc assessing on Janu dent subgroup suburban, ial and industriprocess for ent’s cents/kWh. kWh rate, held a meeting, Superintendent Secondly, a stud the large commerc ,” according to the higher your electric At the meetan overview of the ing and evaluating each ing state rates ce er servi meet al the high Rick gave egic plan to sup- progress toward on compastandards Krambeer. to the TEC rates serv e bills are based tion. district strat and learning that and local academic strengths “We According 1, 2012, a city rable consump lucky enough to about 11,000 port teaching new legislation’s and identifying the instruction May with were tive basic of ed s effec r , your If you is align ol le-phase) kforce” initia and weaknesses m e m b e aii in 2012 ent and scho service (singce charge is $23, “World’s Best Wor live in Haw thly electric bill and have about pursuit of studculum affecting servi .” ge nesota in average monbeen $203.15 at a 13,000 active accounts p- monthly tive. monthly char to the Min , the success and curri Electric Coo Page 18 while a basic ce (single-phase) According would have 4 cents/kWh. But, Tri-County servi See HOUSTON of Education ate loys 51 indirate of 37.3 ld have been liv- erative, which emp ce territory, for rural Krambeer did indic Department egic plan must highest their servi ford with is $32. since you wou district’s strat aii with the , surely viduals in Rush Haw 20 of in Page ing operates out in the U.S. a, HarmoSee POWER electric rates bill would have outposts in Caledoni y. your electric of your concerns. ny and Spring Valle been the least e in Hawaii. After all, you’r
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•Randy Dahl commented that all of the cities have Ag land within their borders. He asked Donna Rasmussen about where the responsibility lies for Ag run off within city boundaries. She said the cities are responsible if they have a soil erosion ordinance. Dahl maintained that the number one issue associated with water quality in the county is run off, adding Fillmore County has always been proactive. He wanted it clear that run off within city limits is the responsibility of the city. •Approval was given for VSO Jason Marquardt to attend National Association of County Veteran Services Officer Conference. Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs grant funds will pay for transportation, lodging, and registration.
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