Commercial and Residential Development Project Continued From Page 1

According to Krohn’s reporting, the city stands to cash in $825,000 from the sale. The property is located at 1111 Range Street, nestled between Webster Ave. and Highway 169. The city took over the property in 2021. The property previously generated complaints and had become somewhat dilapidated. The city inked the deal with the pork plant owned by HyLife Foods to house more than 150 workers after the city acquired the hotel for $3.2 million. The pork plant leased it at $37,000 per month plus about $13,000 in local tax. The city’s Port Authority took a bond for $4.5 million to cover the purchase plus another $1 million for repairs and renovations.

DeMars and Walgenbach have both demonstrated success in build- ing, construction and renovations in the local area with other real estate and commercial projects. DeMars owns a construction business and Walgenbach owns a local electrical business and another communications company. The project accompanies other major area projects such as the former Dutler’s Bowling Alley, which has fallen into major disrepair over the last several years. This may also alleviate some of the high cost rental conditions facing local residents since the tail end of the pandemic. The develop- ers also think it will open up more job and business opportunities. One of the hotel businesses located along Highway 169, the Riverfront Inn & Suites, has been home to several longterm guests, many of whom struggle to find housing.

Guest Column: Hazardous chemicals in the House - Be Aware, Be Safe

Al Christensen Tri County Solid Waste

507-381-9196

Hello Everyone, in the last article we left you with a challenge to embrace our wonderful winter… well I think I’m ready to release my embrace and say thanks for stopping by to ol’ Man winter… I’m not ready to mow lawn or fight mosquitoes yet but I’m ready for a change or maybe my snow shovel is just begging for mercy! Our hazardous chemicals topic this month was prompted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and I was glad they suggested it…The first item we should discuss is Mercury – it’s an oldie but still relevant… Mercury has taken a back seat lately to PFAS or forever chemicals. As much as PFAS would like to steal the show, mercury is also a forever chemical that will bioaccumulate in our soil, water and our bodies over time. Mercury is a naturally occurring element that is toxic to living organisms. It is an endocrine disruptor, which causes many problems in our bodies once it reaches a certain amount. It is a silvery, liquid metal that does not break down or decrease its toxicity like some other pollutants. Mercury can be found in a number of products such as fluorescent light tubes, compact fluorescents (pigtail shaped) high-pressure sodium & metal halide lights. It can also be found in some skin-lightening creams

– please look for “calomel”, “mercuric”, or “mercurous” on the labels. Some of our residents may still have old mercury thermometers. Old thermostats and barometers will also contain mercury. Although we receive less of mercury containing devices these days, our local hazardous waste facilities still receive a steady stream of mercury devices, so please do a thorough scan of the house and garage for these items and bring them to your local hazardous waste facility. I would also like to give a heads up to our small businesses that may have mercury-containing devices – there is currently MPCA grant funds available to cover the disposal costs of your mercury devices so please contact me asap if you would like to get set up for proper disposal, the funds are a first come – first serve basis.

I will list a few other potentially harmful chemicals that we can buy off the shelves shortly but let us do a brief deep dive into one of them… Sodium hypochlorite otherwise known as Bleach. Most of the time it is safe to use for common household cleaning in the laundry or bathroom etc.. However, the first thing to know is that chlorine should never be mixed with other cleaning chemicals – NEVER. That rule also applies to most of the other household cleaning products but mixing chlorine with other chemicals can become deadly. Chlorine purchased off the shelf is usually 3 to 6 percent diluted with water but you will see a change or another bleach option on the shelf in 2023. Recently, the Clorox Company won a sustainability award for offering a new innovative way to supply its customers with the need for bleach. In an effort to use less plastic and save money on shipping costs, the Clorox Company will offer its bleach in smaller concentrated cap-refills. It makes sense – why pay to ship water?

So the Clorox Company would like to sell a durable plastic container that we can reuse repeatedly and just refill it when we need to. It is a great idea but we need to be mindful of storing and using concentrated chemicals. A quick list of other harmful chemicals that we need to use extra caution with is - muriatic acid for cleaning concrete, hydrochloric acid for cleaning drains, sodium hydroxide (oven cleaners) or potassium hydroxide (cleaning agent or soap making). Please always read directions before using these everyday products or ask a trained professional. Quick reminders – our 2023 Tri County collection schedule is on our County web sites. The Blue Earth County hazardous waste facility will be closed in March for cleaning and will re-open in April. Please visit us at - www.tricountyrecycling.org or the Nicollet County waste wizard for recycling & waste information or give us a call at 507-381-9196. Please make every day Earth Day!

Legal Notices

The Annual meeting for Granby Township will be held on March 14 th 2023 at the Marvin Krohn seed office at 43527 Cty Rd 4, Nicollet Mn 56074 at 7:00P.M. The regular monthly meeting will follow the Annual meeting.

Clerk Bob Wills

Saint Peter City Council Approves Adminstration Contracts, Tobacco License for New Freedom Owner, Continued From Page One

of Minnesota. The resolution to authorize the deed restriction requirement was passed.

No-mow May was a program that was initiated last year, according to Prafke. Prafke asked the council to pass adoption of the program and said a deadline to mow of June 12 was to be enforced. Prafke said it would give someone a couple of weekends to get it done. In order to avoid compliance notices for not mowing, residents in Saint Peter will have to register for the nomow program and comply by the June deadline. According to Bee City USA, an advocacy group, No Mow May is a conservation initiative first popularized by Plantlife, an organization based in the United Kingdom (UK), but which is gaining traction across North America.

The proposed goal of the initiative is to allow grass to grow to create a habitat and forage for early season pollinators.

A budget was proposed for $1,500 to create yard signs, other marketing efforts and administration of the registration process. The resolution, first proposed in 2022, was passed by the council. The council also discussed the improvements for Parkview Manor and additionally the administration contract for the project there. Prafke explained that the council received two separate grants for this project, primarily to replace the roof and HVAC systems and a couple other lower cost systems. The funding included a Minnesota block grant and a federal earmarked grant from Congress. The total amount was about $800,000. The recommended action in front of

Focus on Ag Continued From Page 2

in specific states. Landowners should check with local FSA or Natural Resource Conservation (NRCS) offices for details. Local Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) offices are also a good resource for these special initiatives that involve both USDA and state resources.

• Grassland CRP — The Grassland CRP program is a newer initiative and is a working-lands program that is available to landowners, ranchers and farmers. The goal of the Grassland CRP initiative is to protect grassland, rangeland and pastures, while maintaining these areas as working grazing lands. These goals are reached by introducing plant species and management practices that provide biodiversity of plant and animal populations, as well as providing important carbon sequestration benefits. There are currently more than 5 million acres enrolled in the Grassland CRP program, including more than 3.1 million new acres that were accepted into the program in 2022. The Grassland CRP program has become quite popular with landowners and ranchers in the Western and Plains states. Interested parties should check with their local FSA or NRCS office for more details on Grassland CRP.

The initial goal of CRP was to reduce soil erosion on highly erodible cropland and to help curb the overproduction of farm commodities. Secondary objectives of CRP included improving water quality, fostering wildlife habitat and providing income support to farmers. More recently, the CRP program has been identified as a valuable tool through the fed- eral government as a method to promote carbon sequestration on working farmland. Currently, getting farmland enrolled into the CRP program is being challenged by very positive economic returns from crop production and by tight grain supplies worldwide, as well as by higher cash rental rates for farmland.

As of Dec. 31, 2022, there were a total of just under 23 million acres enrolled in the CRP program, which is about 4 million acres below the maximum level of 27 million acres for 2023 that was established in the last farm bill. Of the total CRP acres, approximately 8.45 million acres are enrolled under a General CRP contract, 7.16 million acres in Continuous CRP and 6.3 million acres enrolled in the grassland program, with the balance of the acres in CREP, wetlands and other special CRP initiatives. The 2018 Farm Bill set a maximum of 27 million acres, and the USDA would like to reach this goal by the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2023.

Current CRP contracts will expire on approximately two million acres on Sept. 30, 2023.

The total annual federal budget outlay for the CRP program in the 2022 fiscal year was just over $1.83 billion, including $1.73 billion that was paid in annual rental payments to landowners with acres enrolled in the CRP program. In addition, the USDA allocated $68 million in cost-share payments to landowners for establishing desired practices and plant species on CRP acres and $31 million as special incentive payments through the Continuous CRP program. The overall aver- age rental rate for land in the CRP program in the U.S. in 2022 was $78 per acre. This includes average CRP rental rates of $57 per acre for General CRP, $140 per acre for Continuous CRP, $172 per acre for farmable wetlands, $209 per acre for CREP and $16 per acre for Grassland CRP.

Summary

The future of the CRP program is likely to garner considerable discussion during the next few months, as the next farm bill is being developed and written. The CRP program has a long and successful history of preventing soil erosion, improving water quality, enhancing wildlife habitat and aiding in carbon sequestration. While it may seem quite logical to utilize expansion of the CRP program to reach further goals related to environmental stewardship and carbon sequestration, there could be some obstacles in accomplishing those goals. Commodity prices for corn and soybeans and farm profit levels in the past two years have been at the highest levels in the past decade, resulting in higher land rental rates in many areas. This makes it difficult to convince farmers and landowners to take farmland out of production to enroll in the CRP program or to re-enroll some expiring CRP acreage, unless there are some added financial incentives.

For more information on the current CRP enrollment, expiring CRP acres, rental rates, etc., landowners and farmers should contact their local USDA Farm Service Agency office or refer to the USDA CRP website at: http://www.fsa. usda.gov/crp.