Fillmore County Journal - 6.1.15

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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition

Holy Cow! It’s Dairy Month! pages

15-20

Facts about R-P school project page

Monday, June 1, 2015

Girl Scout Bronze Award project

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page

World Famous Twin Foals

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Volume 30 Issue 36

County safety efforts page

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

Look for Boots and Badges on page 29 of the Fillmore County Journal

Local Marine commissioned as an Officer By Barb Jeffers barb@fillmorecountyjournal.com

After years of hard work and determination 22-yearold United States Marine Caleb Quanrud, from Preston, Minn. has been commissioned as an officer. A ceremony was held on Saturday, May 23, 2015 at the Preston Servicemen’s Club, with Quanrud’s family and friends in attendance to participate in the ceremony and experience the commissioning ceremony with Quanrud. Quanrud joined the Marines in January of 2012 when he was 18 because he “wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself ”, and to “lead

Marines” he states. He completed Officer Candidate School (OCS) last year and graduated in May of 2015 from the University of Minnesota - Mankato with a Bachelor of Science in Corrections. Marine Captain Andrew Schroers, who runs the Marine Corps Officers Program in the state of Minn., conducted the ceremony with the assistance of fellow Marines. Prior to the start of the commissioning ceremony Captain Schroers commented that Saturday was “a great day for a lot of reasons” and stated it was particularly fitting to gather at the VFW on Memorial Day weekend “to recognize Caleb

and the commitment he has made, the work he has put in and the sacrifice he has made” to reach the point of becoming an officer. Quanrud not only decided to become a Marine, but made the decision to lead Marines as an Officer. Captain Schroers stated “it was a long road for Caleb to get here” saying that “it was hyper competitive just to get accepted to go to OCS” and Quanrud not only excelled in the program he also “served as a strong example to other officer candidates” while attending OCS. According to Captain Schroers, “a lot of applicants in the See MARINE Page 3 

Caleb Qunarud’s parents, Barb Merchlewitz and Stuart Quanrud “pin” their son, officially making him a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. Photo by Barb Jeffers

Rushford enacts moratorium for interconnection to electrical grid The Rushford City Council approved the recommendation of the Electric Utility Commission to initiate a moratorium, for up to one year, on the interconnection process for distributed generation systems with the Rushford municipal utility system. The matter was discussed in great detail at the Monday, May 26 meeting. “I’m not usually in favor of moratoriums, but this issue to too complex,” noted City Administrator Steve Sarvi. Prior to private solar or wind generation connection to the city’s electrical system, the city must develop policies and procedures on interconnection as both a safety measure for

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the grid and to preempt any issues for both the city and the alternative energy user. A host of policy and permitting guidelines must be developed, following state guidelines. This includes determination of zoning requirement language, technical requirements for interconnection such as location, number of circuits, and rates, determination of metering, and implementation of tariffs and fees. The city’s wholesale provider, Tri-County Electric Cooperative, will help provide guidance and expertise during the process of developing these policies and procedures. Tri-County Electric has such policies and procedures already in place and the city will hire the cooperative to assist with managing the

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policy. “The city’s electrical grid is not a kid’s tinker toy setup in the basement,” cautioned City Administrator Steve Sarvi. “We need to be careful who hooks into the system.” The Rushford Electrical Commission (RME) does not anticipate the process taking a year, but took the measure as a precaution as it looks to enhance the grid, cutting off problematic areas. “We have to make a lot of decisions and recommendations,” added Sarvi. RME will move the process along and will bring policies and standards to the council for review and approval as they are developed. Three other municipalities are at the same policy stage, according to Sarvi, but none are currently in the process of devel-

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oping them. He has offered to convene a working group for the issue due to the immense complexity. “It’s going to take some time,” added Sarvi. Also approved at the meeting was a recommendation for the second phase of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Infrustructure Grant. In this stage, a consultant has been selected to apply for funding to construct the trail system identified by the planning grant process. The city and school district jointly applied for and completed the planning phase of the SRTS program in 2014. At that time, the community was involved in helping to identify current and future issues that impact pedestrian and bike movement within the community. “While the initial focus

of the project was to make biking and walking to the existing school complex easier, the final plan took into account mobility to all areas of the community, especially the new school complex. After several community meetings, steering committee guidance, and other discussions, the final plan was approved in the fall of 2014,” noted Sarvi in a letter to the council. The current route proposal includes four new asphalt city trail sections. The priority sections include a section east of Highway 43, from the existing sidewalk north of the Rush Creek Bridge, along the new levee to Pine Meadows Lane, a section from the intersec-

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