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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
Burdey’s Cafe opens in Peterson
Rushford puts halt to contract mowing
Page 20
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Monday, March 4, 2013
Challenging conventional wisdom page
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Volume 28 Issue 24
R-P continues with analysis page
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County requests state regulation of EIS page
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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
Spring Valley looks at transportation issues By Gary Peterson gpeterson@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Alicia Gady, Manager of Kwik Trip in Chatfield, Minn. is looking forward to a new Kwik Trip to to be built in Chatfield. Photo by Barb Jeffers
New Chatfield convenience store will be built “Kwik” By Barb Jeffers
barb@fillmorecountyjournal.com
A new Kwik Trip will be built in Chatfield, Minn. in the near future, giving residents and visitors a more convenient Kwik Trip store to stop and top off their tanks. Mr. Hans Zietlow, Director of Real Estate for Kwik Trip, Inc. stated, “Yes, we are going to building a new Kwik Trip in Chatfield,” which means that a new store will be under construction in the coming months. According to Hans Zietlow, the company is “working through a couple issues with the D.O.T. and we should be ready to go,” he said. Mr. Zietlow stated that the public
should look for the store to go up in the Summer of 2013, so it won’t be long before residents and visitors of Chatfield will be stopping in to get those everyday items. The new Kwik Trip store will be located at the intersection of Highway 30 West and Highway 52/Main Street, which is where the Val A Lodge building currently sits. This new location will be very convenient for customers, delivery drivers, and employees for many reasons. Alicia Gady, Manager of Kwik Trip in Chatfield, has been employed by Kwik Trip for six years and became the Manager in the Chatfield store in October of 2012. Alicia says she is “absolutely excit-
ed” about the new store being built although she has not been made aware of the exact date that construction will begin. Alicia stated, “The community will have a better Kwik Trip to serve them,” and added that the new location will be “easier for older residents to get in and out,” which they will appreciate. Employee Mike Hanson, who has worked at Kwik Trip for two years, said the best part of his job is “the customers” and stated that he is “really looking forward” to having a new store. Mike said, “It will be really nice for the customers,” and more convenient for everyone. See KWIK TRIP Page 6
The Transportation Director of SEMCAC appeared before the Spring Valley City Monday night to discuss the possibility of increased transportation services in the Spring Valley area. Erlene Welshons is the Transportation Director for SEMCAC and she said that residents will be receiving a brochure that will identify unmet transportation needs in the Spring Valley area. According to Welshons, SEMCAC has received additional funding which could possibly provide an increase in opportunities to ride the SEMCAC in the area. There could be four hours per day three days a week of service. As for cost, that could be $2.00 in town and $2.75 outside the city. There will be a local match in addition to the funding from MNDOT. The survey being conducted by SEMCAC will assess the needs of the residents and then the local match will be determined. SEM-
CAC will also be hiring a CDL licensed driver who will line up volunteer drivers. The Council also approved a contract with Fillmore County to provide ambulance service in their designated area. •The contractor (Spring Valley) agrees to provide efficient and prompt ambulance service to all persons within their area of service in Fillmore County. •The Contractor shall have not less than one licensed ambulance in service and capable of rendering efficient services, fully equipped to meet the requirements of the State of Minnesota, Emergency Medical Services Regulator Board and equipped with mobile communications between the ambulance vehicles and law enforcement agencies. •The contractor shall keep and maintain the ambulance and equipment. •Contractor agrees to provide one driver and attendant to staff said ambulance on each call. See SPRING VALLEY Page 13
Industrial mining update- Call for statewide moratorium By K aren R eisner karen@fillmorecountyjournal.com
The silica sand mining controversy continues as concerned residents from southeast Minnesota traveled via two buses February 19 to the state capitol to a joint committee hearing, Senate Environment and Energy Policy Committee and the House Committee on Energy Policy. This is indicative of the growing effort to get the state to weigh in on the issue of industrial frac sand min-
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ing. Opponents to industrial mining are requesting a state-imposed moratorium to allow time for an in-depth environmental study of the long-term effects of the industry on southeast Minnesota. They advocate the creation of state-level regulation or state minimum standards to protect the environment and public health. Fillmore County lifted its nine-month moratorium after studying the issue and developing See MINING UPDATE Page 7
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2 See page lS! for detai