Belle Plaine Trio Ready for 3-Day Walk
Life in Belle Plaine Before the Dakota War Page 15
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Tigers Done in St. Cloud
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ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIRST YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, AUGUST 22, 2012
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NUMBER 34
City Council Brushes Up on Street Sweeper Financing
Shirley Schmeckpeper, center, is pictured with her daughter Judy and son Chris shortly after the arrival of their 16- by 74-foot mobile home last week at 601 West Forest Street.
Schmeckpepers’ New Home Arrives by Dan Ruud The product of a communitywide effort has landed on the Schmeckpeper family’s property at 601 West Forest Street
in the form of a 16- by 74-foot mobile home that was delivered last Wednesday. It replaces the family’s mobile home that was destroyed
Kay Siemon
Belle Plaine Woman Among Top Nurses in Twin Cities Kay Siemon of Belle Plaine was recently recognized by Mpls.St. Paul Magazine as one of the best nurses in the Twin Cities area. Doctors, nurses and patients were asked to recommend nurses who “go above and beyond the call of duty in all areas
of health care.” The judges reviewed nearly 100 nominations with an eye toward professionalism, bedside manner and patient interaction, credentials and experience, and impact on
Siemon
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Winning Photo Sara Smith of Belle Plaine, winner of the Herald’s Summer Photo Contest, is pictured with her son Travis, who along with his dog Tank were subjects of the first-place photo called “Drinking Buddies.” A story about Smith’s taking of the photo and the publishing of the other top photos in the contest appear on page 18.
when a large tree landed on it during the June 19 storm that blew through Belle Plaine with winds up to 80 miles per hour. Since then, friends, neighbors and other members of the community have pitched in to see to it that Chris Schmeckpeper, his mother Shirley and sister Judy will have a replacement home. A series of benefits, combined with some insurance money, has done just that. Chris Schmeckpeper and his sister Judy Nelson were somewhat tongue-tied when it came to listing the people, businesses and organizations who helped them the past two months, much like someone who just won an Oscar and is afraid of leaving someone off a long list of thank yous. A series of benefits helped make the purchase of the 10year-old mobile home possible. It made its slow trek to Belle Plaine from Woodlund Homes in Wyoming, Minn. The benefits included a spaghetti dinner, silent auction, bake sale and a 5K run, walk and stroll. Trinity Lutheran Church hosted the dinner, auction and bake sale. “There were so many people helping us,” Chris Schmeckpeper said. “But I really want to compliment Wendy (Thomas) and Lisa (Mathwig) for all the hard work they did organizing these things.” Judy, who works at McDonald’s in Chaska, said that establishment also helped out, including donating beverages, cups and napkins, etc. for the spaghetti dinner. A number of businesses donated some 200 items for the silent auction. Shortly after the storm hit, Sue Rasmussen, who lives near the Schmeckpepers, called KARE 11 TV, which brought increased attention to the family’s crisis. “This town really pulled together for us,” Chris said. Help was still pouring in after the arrival of the home. Friends Dave Thomas and Andrew Haefner were seeing to it last week that the home becomes properly settled onto its new site, a process that has to be completed before the family can move in. Schmeckpeper said he hopes he and his family can move in by sometime this week. Chris, Shirley and Judy plan to live together and share expenses. Since the storm, Chris has been staying with friends and Shirley has been staying at Judy’s place. During an interview several hours after the storm hit and with the large maple tree still on top of his home, Chris said he was just thankful he and his mother were not hurt. The fam-
New Home
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by Dan Ruud The Belle Plaine City Council addressed several issues at length Monday night, including the pros and cons of leasing or outright purchasing a new street sweeper. Public Works Superintendent Al Fahey reported that the city’s current street sweeper is 10 years old and is in need of replacement. A new street sweeper (2012 Pelican) would cost $158,295, while the cost to lease a new Pelican sweeper on a five-year term would be $33,830 per year. Staff recommended the latter. Council Member Cary Coop did some math and said that the leasing option would cost the city some $170,000 compared to the $158,295 state contract purchase price. And that’s just after five years (street sweepers normally last about 10 years before maintenance costs begin to significantly increase). Fahey reported that the cost to refurbish the existing machine at this time would be approximately $23,560, and that such costs would likely increase over the next several years if the city was to keep it. Fahey explained that with the lease option, the city would own the street sweeper after five years and at that time have the option of keeping it or starting up another five-year lease
on a new sweeper and receive some $80,000 toward the new lease by trading in the initiallyleased sweeper. Fahey added that $80,000 is considerably more than what the city would get by trading in a 10-year-old sweeper.
After further mathematical review and some comments on the benefits of leasing by Finance Director Dawn Meyer, the council voted 4-2 to go
City Council
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Woman Killed in Crash Was Former Belle Plaine Resident There was a Belle Plaine connection to the crash that killed three members of an Eden Prairie family at about 9 p.m. Friday on Highway 12 near Willmar. Killed were Michelle Hoffman, 40, her 8-year-old daughter Julia and Hoffman’s mother-in-law Marta Stoffers, 68, the latter of whom was from Atwater. Michelle Hoffman’s son Jason, 5, was also riding in the car but his injuries are not life-threatening. Michelle Hoffman’s husband, Michael Hoffman, taught at Belle Plaine Elementary School a number of years ago before Julia and Jason were born. He and Michelle lived in Belle Plaine. According to the state patrol, Paul Wickenhauser, 21, of Cokato, was driving a Chevy Silverado that hit the van carrying the four family members. The
van then went into the ditch and burned. Wickenhauser, who was treated and released, was taken to Kandiyohi County Jail and charged with criminal vehicular homicide. According to the criminal complaint, Wickenhauser told officers that he had been drinking shortly before the crash. Officers found a broken rum bottle on the road, an open bottle of liquor in the cab of his pickup truck and a case of beer in the back. Wickenhauser reportedly had a preliminary breath test reading of .07, which is under the legal limit of .08. The Hoffman family had been spending the summer with relatives and planned to return soon to Oman on the Arabian Sea, where Michael and Michelle had worked for the past two years at an American international school.
From the Dewey Decimal System to the iPad, Belle Plaine public school students and K-12 Media Specialist Peter Jacobson will have the benefits of new technology when they return to school in a few weeks.
School District Believes iPads Will Raise the Bar on Learning 140 Ready for 2012-13 School Year
by John Mueller Last winter, the idea of spending about $200,000 in new technology and staff development divided members of the school board. When students return to Belle Plaine public school classrooms, they’ll find the new tools ready for the school year. Last December, the district OK’d spending $200,000 on a technology plan that includes 53 new iMac desktop computers and 110 iPads. Overall, the move dedicated $151,875 toward investment in various Apple computers and $51,425 toward staff development so teachers will know how to make the best possible use of the new
year. Over the summer, teachtechnology. The district has 220 iPads pur- ers attended the district’s opchased with district money and tional technology boot camp, donations. School The new equipment received (continued on page 6) some use once it arrived last
Township Board Okays Agreement With City to Repave Entire Road The Belle Plaine Township Board last Wednesday approved the same agreement that the Belle Plaine City Council approved the previous week, thus ensuring that the entire length of the Belle Plaine Trail (between Highway 169 and Ashford Way) will be repaved this summer. “Belle Plaine Township has approved the resolution and provided the city with a fully signed and executed copy,” stated Belle Plaine City Admin-
istrator David Murphy. “They have also paid their portion ($60,537) of the project and Chard Tiling and Excavating has been contacted and informed to move forward with the full project.” Chard Tiling was awarded the contract for the project in June at a bid of $128,113.60.