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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
March Sanity
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10-11
Whalan City Council resignation page
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Monday, March 26, 2018
Stop the stigma
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Volume 33 Issue 27
Technology updates for Chatfield
Cougar News
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Canton • Chatfield • Fountain • Harmony • Houston • Lanesboro • Mabel • Ostrander • Peterson • Preston • Rushford • Rushford Village • Spring Valley • Whalan • Wykoff
Ag community voices concern ahead of R-P decision By K irsten Zoellner kirsten@fillmorecountyjournal.com
The R-P School Board listened to concerns from residents at the March 19 meeting. Pictured, left to right, are Board Directors Jon Pettit, Bonnie Prinsen, Joyce Iverson, Board Chairman John Linder, and Superintendent Chuck Ehler. Photo by Kirsten Zoellner
Preston ambulance service per capita rate increase By K aren R eisner karen@fillmorecountyjournal.com
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Kingsland decommissions intermediate school By R ich Wicks rich@fillmorecountyjournal.com
The Kingsland School Board met in regular session on March 19. Members present were Doug Plaehn, Ann Oeltjen, Leah Stier, Jackie Horsman, Heather Betts, and Superintendent James Hecimovich. Tiffany Mundfrom was absent. The board voted to decommission the Kingsland Intermediate School, effective at the end of this school year. This means the facility is no longer a viable option for Kingsland to use. Hecimovich described the Capital Outlay FY19 plan, which is for purchase of a variety of needs, including athletic
uniforms and helmets, maintenance equipment, two vans, Apple lease, kiln equipment for the Art department, and Region 5 and copier fees. He added that Kingsland “did sell the old iPads, and have collected a little over $10,000 in the resale,” so that money can be used to help purchase equipment. The board also approved Capital Outlay FY19 as summarized by Superintendent Hecimovich. Laurie Hendrickson spoke to the board regarding Kingsland yearbooks, specifically the difficulties in getting a yearbook done at all, and especially in a timely manner. She said, “Since your work meeting, I just wanted to update you on that we had
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an emergency meeting (with a representative from Jostens),… to try to get this wrapped up. And we’re talking now about last year’s yearbook, not this year’s… from what we understand, it was submitted last Thursday and it’s in production right now.” She said it is expected that the yearbooks will be available to distribute to students before the end of this school year. Hendrickson thanked all of the students who have helped on the yearbook, and informed the board that, “Moving forSee KINGSLAND Page 9
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At the March 19 Preston City Council meeting, Ambulance Director Ryan Throckmorton recommended approval of a per capita increase from $10 to $14, effective in 2019. The increase is needed to build up fund balance for ambulance purchases and operating expenses. Councilman David Collett was absent. The per capita payment for the ambulance service was set in 1999 at $7 and was raised last year to $10. With last year’s raise it was decided to raise it in increments, recognizing that
another raise would be needed soon. Ryan recommended a 5 year/10 year ambulance replacement plan. Throckmorton noted revenues are higher than budgeted with a cash profit of $13,000. However, when depreciation of equipment is figured in, there is a loss of $31,000. The cash fund balance is slowly growing, but not enough to purchase a new ambulance in 2020 without creating a significant deficit. The last new ambulance was purchased in 2014. The plan is to purchase one of the service’s two
Rushford-Peterson School District administration made a recommendation at the March 19 meeting that the school board approve the hire of a business instructor for the open position, leaving one full-time instructor in the ag/industrial tech department for the 20182019 school year. The concerns come on the heels of the district’s February decision to not renew the contract of Ag Instructor Heide Dudley. Administration recommended the hire of Joel Hinke as a part of the consent agenda, but the hire was pulled from the agenda for special consideration. A petition with more than 50 signatures urged the district to maintain two full-time ag instructors. “This is unacceptable for our district and community,” the petition read. “Please continue to support
agriculture and industrial technology in our school and community.” At the meeting, just shy of two dozen residents came in support of the retention of two full-time agriculture instructors, with six addressing the board directly. “We’re here to address changes in staffing in the agriculture and industrial technology department,” began R-P graduate, parent, and Future Farmers of America (FFA) Alumni Tony Heiden. “Do you know that more students have competed in state and national competitions for R-P in FFA than any other activity here at this school? Did you know that agriculture is the number one industry in Minnesota? Did you know that 25% of Minnesota’s workforce