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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
There for the 10-second Minneapolis Miracle page
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Resetting the topsoil trap page
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Monday, January 22, 2018
Preston details about veterans home site page
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Volume 33 Issue 18
Journal Writing Project Passion page
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Helping family following home fire page
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Canton • Chatfield • Fountain • Harmony • Houston • Lanesboro • Mabel • Ostrander • Peterson • Preston • Rushford • Rushford Village • Spring Valley • Whalan • Wykoff
Get wild at Maple Springs
Kingsland looks to play nine-man football in 2018 By R ich Wicks rich@fillmorecountyjournal.com
John Palmer, left, shakes hands with Maple Springs Campground’s new owner, Andy Goemaat. Photo submitted By R ich Wicks rich@fillmorecountyjournal.com
mosquitos in the campground area. Horseback riding is also a big attraction, due to the many trails within the park. The campground currently has 69 camping spots, with roughly 20 for “seasonals” (campers who set up in a spot for the entire season, which runs approximately mid-April through October, depending on weather conditions). Most of the spots have water and electrical hookups, and some have sewer hookups as well. There are also about 20 sites for tent camping, and about 15 with special accommodations for horse camping. Andy grew up on a farm in southern Iowa, and previously owned and operated a lawn care service. He currently works as the maintenance director at a church, and said he’s got experience in everything involved in running a campground. He likes the idea of running Maple See MAPLE SPRINGS Page 12
See FOOTBALL Page 7
Rushford Village considers Right of Way Ordinance By K irsten Zoellner kirsten@fillmorecountyjournal.com
The first meeting of the year for the Rushford Village council, Tuesday, January 16, was largely comprised of annual housekeeping. Designations for official services, committees, contracts, and zoning rates were all maintained the same as in 2017. A financial report, including outstanding indebtedness was also presented by City Treasurer Judy Graham. The only items pulled for extended discussion were the Planning and Zoning Commission and Rates of Pay. The Zoning Board is currently headed by Zoning
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Administrator Jon Pettit, Bruce Hovland, Glen Kopperud, and Hamilton Peterson. One seat on the board, a one-year term previously held by Todd Baker, is vacant. Citizens interested in serving on the commission should contact the Village Hall. Hovland’s term also ends in December 2018 and the Mayor Gordon Johnson indicated Hovland would not be seeking reappointment, as he is planning a move into the City of Rushford and will be ineligible to serve. A review of the Rates of Pay, including current wages for city employees Travis Scheck, (Public See RIGHT OF WAY Page 2
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Things are a little bit wild at Maple Springs Campground, and that’s just fine with new owner Andy Goemaat. But as he explains, there’s a big difference between wildlife and wild life. Andy stated, “I had been looking for a while to buy a campground, and everything kind of fell through until I ran across this one. I wanted one that was kind of quieter and family-oriented, not something that’s known for partying and drinking. And that’s the way the Palmers (former owners John and Doris Palmer) had run this one. It’s very quiet and family-friendly, kidfriendly. So I want to take it the way they’ve had it, and slowly improve things. They’ve built a great foundation for me to continue.” Andy explained that Maple Springs Campground has
existed for many years, at least since 1989, and John and Doris Palmer had owned and operated it since 2002, but because of ongoing health issues they needed to retire. The campground’s official address is 21606 County Road 118, Preston, but it’s actually located roughly halfway between Preston and Spring Valley, right next to Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park. Andy took possession in November 2017, and said, “I put a playground in last fall. I’ll do a few more things as I have the time and money. His future plans include putting in showers, and he adds, “I would like to get a hayride wagon and do hayrides on Saturdays through the state park and back.” He also envisions holding church services in the campground this summer. He adds that the trout fishing is outstanding, and the cold streams mean there are very few
A possible change to nineman football was discussed during the Kingsland School Board meeting on January 17, with all members present (Doug Plaehn, Ann Oeltjen, Leah Stier, Jackie Horsman, Tiffany Mundfrom, Heather Betts, and Interim Superintendent James Hecimovich). Mundfrom asked what would happen if the team made the playoffs, and it was explained that the team would then need to switch to an 11-player format. Staff shared data that showed Kingsland is currently the smallest school in 1A, but would be among the larger schools playing nine-man football. It was also pointed out that there would still be plenty of area schools to
play against. Plaehn pointed out that the board’s decision is whether or not to pursue playing nine-man football, but the final decision will be up to the Minnesota High School League. The board voted to pursue changing to nine-man football for the 2018-19 school year. Kingsland plans to continue having a varsity, B-squad, and junior high football team following this change. The board approved the consent agenda items, including the resignation of Mari Blanchard (special education paraprofessional), and lane changes for Tara Holmen, Ben Hansen, Amanda Lorentz, Baily Mahowald, Erin Milz, Kelly Opseth, Angela Forland, Tonia Gardner, Kayli Hareldson, and Rachael Burt. No members of the pub-