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thin ice
Saturday, December 18, 2021
Property taxes jump over 3% in 2022
Vol. 167, No. 37
On
School district levy to increase
Same Local Coverage Since 1854.
Anglers urged to use caution when participating in Minnesota’s hard water season
BY ELLARRY PRENTICE STAFF WRITER
SAUK RAPIDS – Property taxes payable to the Sauk Rapids-Rice School District will increase next year. The Sauk Rapids-Rice School Board at its Dec. 13 meeting set the district’s 2022 property tax levy at $10,815,470 up from the current levy of $10,452,688. The increase amounts to $362,782, or 3.47%. The district’s final levy did not change from the proposed levy the board certified in September. The levy will generate about $4.6 million for the general fund. Based on student enrollment, the general fund levy is primarily used to fund salaries and benefits (79%), according to business manager Tracey Fiereck. The general fund also provides funding for student transportation, facility maintenance, instructional equipment, safety requirements and unemployment benefits.
School board page 3
BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER With varying temperatures during the first few weeks of December, people may be on thin ice. Literally. Mark Soderholm knows this feeling all too well. Soderholm, for the first time in his 45 years of ice fishing, broke through the ice twice on Little Rock Lake during the 2020-21 season. “I know this lake pretty well and I still went down,” said Soderholm, who began fishing the lake with his uncles when he was 10 years old. “That’s the thing. You’re never 100% safe.” Each year, Minnesota anglers take to lakes to participate in the state’s hard water season. Despite its fun, ice fishing can be a precarious situation. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reported three ice-related fatalities in 2020-21. But, not all accounts of people falling through the ice are recorded. Ryan Hanna is a conservation officer with the MN DNR. He is one of two officers who cover Benton
OBITUARIES
The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
• Darlene C. Daniels • Dennis E. Koep • Verna M. Koep • Jerome J. Schwalboski
PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER
Mark Soderholm stands on the north end of Little Rock Lake Dec. 15 near his property in rural Rice. Soderholm fell through the ice in December 2020 and March 2021 and urges anglers to use caution when participating in Minnesota’s hard water angling season.
Ice is Never 100% Safe! 4" 5-7"
8-12"
12-15"
Minimum Ice Thickness Guidelines for New Clear Ice Only mndnr.gov/icesafety
County. “I’ve already heard of three people falling through the ice this year,” Hanna said. “But thankfully those were incidents where people were close enough to shore to venture back in with a little help.” Such was the case for Soderholm. “The first time I went in,
it was between the week of Christmas and New Year’s last year,” said Soderholm who splits his time living between Rice and Minnetonka. Soderholm watched four-wheelers pull portable fish houses around the lake that day before venturing out on foot with his brother and nephew. There was little snow,
PUBLIC NOTICES
• Probate Notice - A. Cash - pg. 13 • Probate Notice - H. Cash - pg. 13 • City of Sauk Rapids Enterprise Funds 2022 Adopted Budget - pg. 10 • City of Sauk Rapids 2022 MN Summary Budget Data - pg. 10 • Sauk Rapids-Rice Work Session Minutes, Nov. 22 - pg. 11 • Sauk Rapids-Rice Special Board Minutes, Nov 23 - pg. 11 • Sauk Rapids-Rice Reg. Board Minutes, Nov. 8 - pg. 11 • Benton County Board of Commissioners Reg. Minutes, Nov. 16 - pg. 13 • City of Sauk Rapids HRA Dispersal Notice - pg. 12
and Soderholm drilled holes to ensure the ice thickness. “For the most part it was 7 inches everywhere,” Soderholm said. “It was solid, good ice; it wasn’t milky.” After a stint of fishing, the three began to return to the cabin that evening after dark. “I stepped over a spot that had a little bit of snow on it, and I immediately went down through the ice,” Soderholm said.
Thin ice page 2
• City of Sauk Rapids Ord. No. 2021-801 - pg. 10 • City of Sauk Rapids Reg. Minutes, Nov. 22 - pg. 12 • Sauk Rapids-Rice Schools Call for Bids Exterior Wall Rehab - pg. 11 • Mayhew Lake Township Filing Notice - pg. 11 • Assumed Name - Boho Salon - pg. 13 • City of Sauk Rapids Public Hearing Establish EDA - pg. 12 • Sauk Rapids Township Election Notice of Filing - pg. 12 • City of Sauk Rapids Notice of Hearing on Improvement - pg. 10 • Notice of Dissolution - Tandem Orthodontics & Prosthetics - pg. 10