PINE CITY
THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015 VOL. 130 NO. 24
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CRASH ON I-35: Driver airlifted to hospital after June 6 crash near Pine City. P2
Farmers’ Market finds new home BY MIKE GAINOR EDITOR@PINECITYMN.COM
The Pine City Farmers’ Market opens up for business on June 12, and organizers are excited for the possibilities offered by their new permanent location at the Pine County Fairgrounds on Highway 61. “We did it originally just because there was construction in Robinson Park,” said Farmer’s Market Board Member Barb Videen. “But the vendors got to r eally like it because they’re so much more visible. It was really a smooth move. “It was hard to m ake that decision, because the park was such a pretty area to be in,” Videen continued. “But it was just something we had to do. And once it was there, Barb Videen people found us. We may Pine City Farmers’ Market have lost a few customers, but then we got a lot more new ones who were just driving around and saw us.” She and the other market organizers are looking forward to a ll the fresh, healthy food options offered at the market, but noted that shoppers shouldn’t expect to see tables loaded with
‘I love rhubarb, and then all the fresh herbs seem to be coming out, so that’s my favorite thing to do in spring.’
MIKE GAINOR | THE PIONEER
Getting airborne at the Rural School A young competitor puts everything he’s got into a toss over the roof of the Rural School in Pine City during a June 2 game of ‘Annie Annie Over.’ The old games find a new audience at the school, which has taught generations of youngsters what life was like back in the early days of Pine City.
SEE MARKET, PAGE 9
City, school work toward parking solution BY HENRY FISCHER NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
Pine City School District and Pine City officials agreed to continue working together on a plan to p rovide adequate parking space at Pine City High School while assuring pedestrian safety. Last week the city council voted to deny the school district’s request for a conditional use permit to use the former car dealership lot for overflow parking at Pine City High School, since the school district is in violation of a variance is-
sued by the city in 2013. So a committee of school and city officials will continue to meet in an effort to hammer out a mutually agreeable solution. The city requires the school district to have 600 paved parking spots at Pine City High School. Currently, the school district has just under 400 spots, including areas with a gravel surface. “Our parking demands remain the same as they have been for decades,” Superintendent Wayne Gilman said. “Since our auditorium has a m uch
smaller capacity than the gym, our architects and SEH (the city’s engineer) studied our parking and determined that it was sufficient for our needs. For many years we have used the car dealership lot for overflow parking. Now we own and maintain the car dealership lot but the city won’t allow us to use the lot for parking under any circumstances though it easily holds over 200 parking spots. We have even offered to build a crosswalk/sidewalk and provide a shuttle bus to cross the highway any time we
use the car dealership lot for parking. Gilman noted that the parking area at the city’s softball fields was used during high school graduation, along with shuttle buses that transported people from the Hurley Street location to the school’s front door. He suggested that a similar arrangement could work for using the former car dealership property across Highway 61, augmented by a crosswalk with crossing guards. SEE PARKING, PAGE 9
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