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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
“Over the Back Fence” Celtic rock group... PAGE
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Police Chief Schultz to retire
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Monday, June 10, 2019
NTC opposes Lanesboro plant location
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Volume 34 Issue 36
Kingsland funding challenges
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Rushford Village engineer updates
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Canton • Chatfield • Fountain • Harmony • Houston • Lanesboro • Mabel • Ostrander • Peterson • Preston • Rushford • Rushford Village • Spring Valley • Whalan • Wykoff
Becky Brandt sworn in as Fillmore County Court Administrator
Lanesboro residents speak out against wastewater treatment plant project once again BY H ANNAH WINGERT hannah@fillmorecountyjournal.com
A community input time was held for 15 minutes before the June 3 Lanesboro City Council meeting. Several residents spoke out against the wastewater treatment plant project, asking that ordinance 151.30 be removed from the council’s consent agenda that evening. The ordinance pertains to the floodplain district, which would allow the city to build the wastewater treatment plant across the road from where the current one sits, a location that many have reservations about. The general feeling from the community members present was that the city has not been open enough with the residents about the wastewater treatment plant project and deciThe new Fillmore County Court Administrator Becky Brandt with retired Court Administrator Jim Attwood. Photo by Karen Reisner BY K AREN R EISNER karen@fillmorecountyjournal.com
New Court Administrator Becky Brandt took the oath of office administrated by Judge Matt Opat on June 4. She will replace retired Court Administrator Jim Attwood who served in the position for 31 years. Brandt is no stranger to district court operations. She served the Olmsted County District Court for 21 years. She began working in the Juvenile Division in 1998, then moved to the Civil Division, and finally to the Family Division. She worked as the court assistant for Judge Kevin Lund for many years before working
for Judge Kathy Wallace until July 2018. For the last several months she has served as the court operations supervisor. Brandt felt she could not pass up a chance to “come home” to work in Fillmore County when the unique opportunity of the court administrator position became available. She is part of a large extended family, many of whom live in southeastern Minnesota. Her parents, James and Diane Leichtnam, live in Grand Meadow. Two of her four siblings, James and Diana (Weiss) still live in Grand Meadow. She also has a sister Bev (Rochester) and a brother Jerome, plant superintendent at Kerry Americas. Her daughter
Paige, 31, lives in California and her son Jake, 17, will be a senior next year. Her husband Jay is a commercial floor installer, contracting through Hiller’s Flooring America. Brandt went to school in Grand Meadow and graduated in 1982. She went to business school and worked 12 years as a legal secretary before serving the Olmsted County District Court. Experience and hard work are the drivers that qualify her for the position she now holds. “I love this area. It is my favorite spot in the whole state,” she shares. Brandt See ADMINISTRATOR Page 3 ➤
sions were made without much input from the public. “I would reject that narrative,” Mayor Jason Resseman said, adding that there has been nothing deceptive or out of order with the process. City Administrator Michele Peterson pointed out that notices have been posted appropriately for each of the meetings to notify people of the subject, time, and place. The regular meeting was opened at 6 p.m. with an approval of the agenda and minutes of the previous meeting. The consent agenda was approved with no changes and included approval for accounts payable, ordinance 151.30 along with a summary for printing the ordinance, a resolution amending ordinance 31.60 regarding EcoSee LANESBORO Page 10 ➤
Veterans Treatment Court BY K AREN R EISNER karen@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Judge Ross Leuning, Freeborn County, informed the county board at their June 4 meeting about the establishment of a Third Judicial District Veterans Treatment Court. Leuning explained that the Treatment Court is an intensive probationary program. It is a specialty court that provides for treatment rather than incarceration to prevent future illegal activity. A successful program can save dollars. Captain Leuning is uniquely qualified to lead in the establishment of the Treatment Court. He retired from the military in 2018 after almost 38 years of service. Leuning was appointed by Governor Mark Dayton in 2011 to
serve as District Court Judge in Minnesota’s Third Judicial District. In 2017 Leuning was asked, as the only veteran on the bench, to spearhead the creation of an 11 county Third Judicial District Veterans Treatment Court. The Treatment Court’s first session was in March 2019. The 11 counties include Rice, Steele, Waseca, Freeborn, Mower, Dodge, Olmsted, Fillmore, Houston, Wabasha, and Winona. This Court works with veterans in legal trouble. It helps veterans work through issues including, but not limited to, addiction, mental health issues, domestic abuse, and PTSD. The See VETERANS Page 18 ➤