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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
Celebrating Beef Month INSIDE TODAY’S JOURNAL
The lies they tell U.S. PAGE
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Monday, May 13, 2019
Kingsland to expand Life Skills PAGE
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Volume 34 Issue 32
Feedlot agreement reached PAGE
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Maddie Smith new FFA Treasurer PAGE
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Canton • Chatfield • Fountain • Harmony • Houston • Lanesboro • Mabel • Ostrander • Peterson • Preston • Rushford • Rushford Village • Spring Valley • Whalan • Wykoff
Lanesboro business owner receives Historic Preservation Award
Peterson implements consequence for non-compliance BY K IRSTEN ZOELLNER kirsten@fillmorecountyjournal.com
The City of Peterson is making good on consequences recently instituted for non-compliance to city ordinances. For more than a year, the city has taken steps to clarify ordinances and policies and beef up ability to follow through on correcting situations. This includes non-compliant vehicles, discontinuation of utility services, and a recent look at revised Minnesota Basic Code that covers many of the city’s ordinances. Administrative citations were mailed to three property owners regarding vehicle violations. As per ordinance, they were cited for failing to comply with regulation on location, non-current licensing, number of vehicles stored outside, being inoperable, or any combination of these. All Mayor Resseman presents Lori Bakke with the Historic Preservation Award. Photo By Hannah Wingert BY H ANNAH WINGERT hannah@fillmorecountyjournal.com
At the May 6 Lanesboro City Council meeting, owner of Granny’s Liquor, Lori Bakke was awarded the Historic Preservation Award for her extensive work and research making sure that her building stays historically accurate. A representative from Smith Schafer & Associates gave the 2018 audit presentation for the council and the Lanesboro Public Utilities Commission. The city’s financial statement was fairly stated, and expenditures remained relatively similar to the previous year. Mayor Jason Resseman read a proclamation declaring May as Arbor Month in Lanesboro and urged residents to help care for
trees so that future generations can also enjoy them. Lanesboro Fire Department Chief David Haugen reported that the fire crew battled two back-to-back structure fires at the beginning of 2019. They are looking into doing a live burn at a building near the school as it is scheduled to be torn down. The school has already done a lot of the asbestos abatement on the house so it should be ready to burn soon. Haugen also gave the public works report. The asphalt plant recently opened up for the year so the crew will be working to fill the potholes around town. “This winter has been an extremely hard year on our roads,” Haugen said about the potholes. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Haugen
also noted that it can be tricky to inform Lanesboro residents exactly when the city will be burning at the brush dump due to wind and weather conditions frequently changing, but he does his best to keep them in the loop while utilizing Facebook and other means of communication. He wished to stress to the public the importance of leaving grass clippings and leaves in the proper pile at the brush dump as well as not leaving anything behind that does not belong there. He often finds garbage at the brush dump which he then has to haul away, costing the city money. There was a request to paint the 10 minute parking spots in front of Granny’s Liquor with See LANESBORO Page 2 ➤
vehicles’ licensing was obtained from public property. Each of the citations equates to a $50 fine per vehicle. A second citation will be given for every vehicle that remains 30 days after the first citation. A $75 fine will be imposed for a second citation and 15 days given to correct the issue. Fines continue to accumulate and increase per each citation per vehicle. Likewise, 18 disconnection to utility services notices were mailed from city hall, along with April utility billing. This includes residential property only. After some discussion, it was determined that the ordinance applies to businesses as well and letters to businesses not current on payment will be mailed May 20. See PETERSON Page 15 ➤
Mabel council hears parking compliant BY R ICH WICKS rich@fillmorecountyjournal.com
On May 8, the Mabel City Council held a regular city council meeting. Members in attendance included Adam Wilder, Gary Morken, City Clerk Karen Larson, Kirsten Wyffels, and Terry Torkelson. Mayor Jim Westby was absent, so Torkelson led the meeting. A citizen, Don Kleiboer addressed the council about a concern with a neighbor. Kleiboer said his neighbor appears to be operating an automotive body shop at the property, and often has several vehicles parked in the driveway and on the street, which causes a parking space problem. Kleiboer asked if the city could please check to see if something can be done.
After Kleiboer departed, the council, along with City Attorney Gregory Schieber, discussed the issue. It was pointed out that the property is zoned Residential, so a business should not be operating on the property, without a permit. There was also discussion regarding the need for any vehicles parked on the street to be currently licensed, per state law. The council asked the sheriff’s department to help monitor this situation. Torkelson summarized, “We’ll dig into this some more.” Regarding a previously addressed issue of mosquito control, the council heard from Bob See MABEL Page 7 ➤
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