Fillmore County Journal - 5.9.16

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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition

RCTC Volleyball signs local student page

15

Monday, May 9, 2016

Falcon Softball Clips GMLOK page

TZD grant and SHIP projects

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page

Volume 31 Issue 33

Hooray, hooray, it’s finally May!

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page

Preston TIF hearings

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

Rushford Village awards Ostrander ponders bid in road improvements fire truck purchase By R ich Wicks

rich@fillmorecountyjournal.com

The Rushford Village council was in full attendance at the Tuesday, May 3 meeting. At the meeting, the council unanimously approved the next phase of road improvements. Pictured, left to right, are Mayor Gordon Johnson, Zoning Administrator Jon Pettit, and councilors Dennis Overland, Todd Baker, Rich Smith, and Chad Rasmussen. Photo by Kirsten Zoellner

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The Tuesday, May 3 Rushford Village council meeting, a continuation of the April 19 meeting, went without a hitch as the council tackled several road and bridge items, as well as the hire of a new city clerk. The full council was in attendance. Bolton & Menk engineer Josh Pope was on hand at the meeting to detail bids received for road improvements to be done in south Rushford this year. There were two bids received for the project, which yielded better pricing. The low bid of approximately $665,000 came from McHugh Excavating of Onalaska, WI. Dunn Blacktop was the second bidder. The project was bid with a base project and alternates A and B. Alternate A, full removal and replacement of culverts on

Riverside

kirsten@fillmorecountyjournal.com

Prospect Street, was intended to address drainage concerns in the area and comes with a price tag of $37,000. Pope acknowledged the alternate was a difficult portion of the project to determine best course of action. If the city would be addressing the culvert and drainage issue more indepth within the next five years, Pope recommended the city not move forward with Alternate A. However, the culverts are currently in poor to fair condition. Should the city wait, and the culverts fail completely in that time, the project would be mandatory and considerably more costly. After some discussion, it appears there is not time for the city to do an in-depth drainage study at this time. “We know snippets, but not the full details,” noted Pope referring to the drainage issues. “It’s not the easiest of decisions.” Pope indicated that if a full storm water analysis is

hOurS

By K irsten Zoellner

done, the city is likely looking at installation of storm drains. “You’ve got to have a place for the water to go.” “It could come back to bite us if we don’t do anything,” noted Mayor Gordon Johnson. “I think the timing is now. In my mind, we have an opportunity to move forward with a positive plan.” The council voted unanimously to approve the project, including both alternates. “I’ve heard no negative feedback regarding the goal of what we’re trying to do. I think it would be foolish to put the blinders on. We’ve got to move forward.” As the city attempts to keep a grasp on the condition of its roads and bring them into good standing with a maintenance plan, the council has scheduled another full council tour of all bituminous roadways. The tour See APPROVED ROAD Page 2 

New Hours BegiNNiNg May 9 MON.-Thur. 4PM-8PM FrI. 12PM-9PM SaT. 12PM-9PM SuN. 12PM-8PM

The Ostrander City Council met on May 3 for a regular meeting. Members present were Erin Brugh, Pam Kunert, Mayor Pat Nesler, and DJ Start. Clerk Chris Hyrkas and Heidi Jones were absent. Insurance agent Ann Keim addressed the council regarding the city’s insurance coverage renewal, and she noted that the city has one less truck than before. She also asked the council to decide whether or not to waive the statutory tort limit, which is something each city must decide annually. She

explained that if the limit is waived, then the city could be sued for any amount, so she said there’s really no reason to waive it. The council voted to not waive the limit. Fire Chief Brian Miner gave a report on activity for the fire department. He said there were only two fire calls for the month. He also informed the council that there’s a used fire truck he’s been looking into purchasing. He said it’s a 1992 pumper truck, and in good condition, with a value of about $15,000. He said if the city could buy See FIRE TRUCK Page 13 

Lanesboro celebrates EMS week By H annah Wingert hannah@fillmorecountyjournal.com

The Lanesboro City Council met for their regular meeting on May 2, at 5:30 p.m. All council members were present. The consent agenda was approved and included the minutes of the last meeting, accounts payable, and the fire lane ordinance. Police Chief Matt Schulz informed the council that the police department will be filing tickets electronically instead of hand-writing them. He and City Administrator Michele Peterson are working on numbering the city ordinances so tickets for them can also be filed electronically. He anticipates that they will all be ready to go by June. City Works Director Andy Drake asked the council to approve a proposal and bid to finish the outside of the city

shed. The proposal was passed. Councilman Jason Resseman informed the council that Gerry Evenson resigned from the Public Works Commission on April 27. It was decided that councilman Tom Dybing will fill Evenson’s seat until his term is up at the end of 2016, at which time a new commissioner will be elected. Resseman will continue to be a council liaison for the Public Works Commission. The EDA updated their ordinance concerning the number of people on their board. The board will now consist of seven members, two of whom will be city council members as required by state statutes. Councilman Tom Smith and Mayor Robin Krom will serve on the EDA board to fill the requirement. The EDA has been discussing where to set salaries for each of See EMS WEEK Page 7 

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