Fillmore County Journal 7.23.12

Page 1

PRSRT STD ECR WSS US. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 70 MADELIA, MN 56062

Senior

Living

POSTAL PATRON

“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition

Senior Living special section Pages 23-25

Mining ordinance revisions continue page

5

Monday, July 23, 2012

Fillmore County Fair pages

6-12

Volume 27 Issue 34

Wounded veteran sale running again page

15

R-P looking at phased new facility page

21

Canton l Chatfield l Fountain l Harmony l Lanesboro l Mabel l Ostrander l Peterson l Preston l Rushford l Rushford Village l Spring Valley l Whalan l Wykoff

Preston City Hall remodel progressing By K aren R eisner kreisner@fillmorecountyjournal.com

A corn field soaking up the close to two inches of rain Fillmore County received on July 18th. Photo by Dan Dornink

Area dealing with drought conditions they have been for a long time. Hellickson sold his this week jsexton@fillmorecountyjournal.com for $7.50 a bushel. Last year When rain came down from it sold for between $4.00 and the sky and the cool wind $5.00 a bushel. blew on Wednesday, July 18, it “That’s a lot,” said Hellickwas a relief for everybody. Not son. “Rarely has it ever been $6 just a relief from the heat and a bushel.” humidity that has been giving The high price of corn affects everyone reason to complain, so much more than just the but relief that the crops in farmer selling it. It affects the the area finally got some of price of food in the grocery the water they so desperately stores. It also affects the price of ethanol. needed. Gary Hellickson farms out- Corn is not the only crop side of Preston, and he has affected by low rainfalls. 1200 acres of corn. This year According to Hellickson, hay the corn prices are higher than production is way down as well. By Jade Sexton

“The pastures look like people’s lawns,” he said. “There’s nothing there, and the ground is hard as rock.” Hellickson also grows soybeans, but said those are able to withstand drier weather better than the corn. Even after the good rain that came recently, Fillmore County is still in drought conditions. The dry soil needs even more rain to make up for the driest year in a long time. Some See DROUGHT Page 16 

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two-for-tuesday

City Administrator Joe Hoffman reported at the July 16 meeting that the city hall remodel project had begun and that they were on budget at this point. The council had accepted a quote from H and J Construction to do the remodel at their March 14 meeting. The total project cost with furnishings was expected to be less than $45,000. The city’s share was to be about $26,000 with the balance being paid by the Utility and the ambulance service. Hoffman asked about a possible addition to the project; additional carpeting. After some discussion the council approved replacing the carpet in the entry way and hallway. The carpet is 16 years old. The new carpet will be consistent in the hallway and the council chambers. The additional carpet will cost $2,000.

Chimney Swift Tower The council gave its permission in early May for the building of a Chimney Swift Kiosk contingent on an agreement being drafted between all the parties involved. The tower/ kiosk is to be built near the restrooms of the Trailhead Inn. Funds had been raised for the project. Hoffman said the city attorney had drafted an agreement as the council directed. However, the Zumbro Valley Audubon Society (ZVAS) wasn’t receptive to being responsible for maintenance and liability and has asked that the city accept those responsibilities. He suggested they invite ZVAS to the August 6 meeting. Hoffman also suggested if the city accepted the responsibility for maintenance, then maybe they should have more input in the design. The consensus of the council was to invite ZVAS to the next meeting See PRESTON Page 2 

Rushford to seek bids on city hall project Both inside funding, using money from existing city funds, kzoellner@fillmorecountyjournal.com and outside funding, such as a The debate regarding Rush- USDA loan are both up for conford’s proposed city hall con- sideration, yet it’s unclear whether version and the library project either is what the council wants continue. While the council has for the city. tentatively approved the city hall “I’ll be honest, I think it’s move to the former and vacant unreasonable to spend $160,000 municipal liquor store, including to move city hall down there,” preliminary design work, little noted Councilor Roger Colbenhas been finalized due to lack of son. “How do we go about getfunding. See RUSHFORD Page 14  By K irsten Zoellner

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