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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
May is Beef Month Pages 21-25
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Monday, May 7, 2012
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Volume 27 Issue 23
Ostrander City Council decisions page
Whalan Stand Still Parade
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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
County Board leaning toward smaller SDA model
to services at a lower cost for the 12 county region as a whole. kreisner@fillmorecountyjournal.com Unfortunately, Accenture has not Mark Howard, Accenture been able to produce a funding LLC, provided an analysis of model that would spread the possible smaller Service Deliv- fiscal rewards evenly making this ery Authority (SDA) groupings model very difficult to impleat the board’s May 1 meeting. ment. The lower overall cost will Twelve southeast Minnesota mean more cost avoidance for counties have been considering some and more cost for others. the development of an SDA for Howard suggests that the fundhuman services for the past three ing model and the governance years. The Accenture firm was will need to be linked to find a hired in December of 2011 to workable solution. If a county help with the design of a model is paying more, the county will for the twelve counties. want a greater say in the gover At this point the counties are nance. If the steering committee looking at the business case and comes to a consensus on these the governance of a possible SDA. two areas, the next step would Accenture has shown that a 12 be to figure out implementation county SDA would very likely details. Each county board will provide more and better quality have to agree to participate or services and provide more access not. Those that want to particiBy K aren R eisner
pate will move forward. Commissioner Chuck Amunrud noted other yet to be answered questions including what the Department of Human Services (DHS) will present as required Performance Measures. Will the county be compliant? If not what will be the cost to become compliant? Howard said there is a committee putting together the Performance Measures that will be adopted and administered by the DHS. Some of the Performance Standards are known already. They will be made official on December 15, 2012, and will be enforceable on January 1, 2013. Amunrud acknowledged that Fillmore County provides a more minimal amount of services and this could be a problem in meet-
ing the Performance Standards, if we don’t become part of something bigger. Howard acknowledged that an SDA could be formed without Olmsted County. However, he insisted, “In order to achieve economics of scale, you have got to have scale.” Part of the problem is that all the counties don’t agree as to the extent of services that they need to provide. Howard suggested this will be a problem in the 12 county scenario in the area of governance. Counties have differing philosophies and standards. Commissioner Duane Bakke said Fillmore County provides more services than required by statute. Commissioner Randy Dahl stated we are basically looking at how to provide bet-
ter services for less money. He maintained the county’s source of funding is property tax. Amunrud asked where to draw the line on how much is more services. The line could be to provide services that are compatible with state law. Counties with larger metro areas provide some added services that may not be necessary in smaller more rural counties. Bakke said the county contracts out for services now that we don’t provide. Howard insisted with the implementation of the SDA, it will eventually become what the SDA is offering for services, not each individual county. He added that if the counties can’t See SDA MODEL Page 6
Fillmore County District Report By Jade Sexton jsexton@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Joshua Thomas Mitchell, age 20 of Lanesboro, appeared before Judge Robert Benson at the Fillmore County Courthouse on April 17, 2012. Mitchell was charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, which has a maximum penalty of three years in jail, a $5,000 fine, or both. He was also charged with assault of a peace officer in the 4th degree, with a maximum penalty of one year in jail, $3,000 or both; and DWI, with a maximum penalty of 90 days, $1,000, or both. He was also charged with underage drinking and open bottle. The charges stem from an incident in which Mitchell was allegedly discovered speeding in Rushford. Police attempted to stop the car, and eventu-
ally found the car empty. They later found Mitchell in a truck with some other people. He allegedly had been drinking, and the cops found a can of beer in the truck. He told police he didn’t realize it was a cop that was trying to pull him over. Mitchell was released on his own recognizance with $6,000 unconditional bail. His next court appearance is April 23, 2012. On April 13, 2012, Tiffany Lee Kirvelay, age 22, of Spring Valley, appeared before Judge Benson. Kirvelay was charged with terroristic threats, which has a maximum penalty of five years, $10,000 or both. She was also charged with two counts domestic assault, which each have a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail, $1,000, or both. Police were called to a home
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in Spring Valley and told that Kirvelay was allegedly making threats and threatening her children. She allegedly told police that she was pregnant and a girl there had hurt her, and she was going to hurt her back. Kirvelay was released on her own recognizance with $10,000 unconditional bail, and is allowed supervised visits with her children as determined by Social Services. Her next court appearance is yet to be determined. LeRoy Eddie Helwig, 45, of Spring Valley, appeared before Judge Benson on April 23, 2012. Helwig was charged with three counts of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree of someone aged 13-15, which each have a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail, $30,000, or both. He was also charged See DISTRICT COURT Page 3
Four-year-old Kaisen Johnson, son of Jeff and Kiley Johnson, found a large morel mushroom at their home in the country outside of Chatfield. Photo submitted by Jeff Johnson
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