PINE CITY
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 VOL. 130 NO. 28 www.pinecitymn.com $1.00
WHERE IN THE WORLD? Find out where neighbors have been taking their favorite newspaper. P9
Auditor: Watch city retirement plans BY HENRY FISCHER NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
LANCE FURBER | THE PIONEER
Roofing crew finds inspiring vista Roofers atop St. Mary’s Catholic Church get the job done under the shadow of the church steeple.
The City of Pine City received a “clean” financial audit for 2014. “We did not have any major findings,” Carl Nordquist of Althoff and Nordquist, LLC reported to the city council in his review of the 86-page annual audit and 16-page financial analysis. Nordquist warned that new regulations will require cities to factor projected public employee retirement benefits in their future financial statements. Pine City’s retirement plan was fully funded in 2001 but over time has eroded to become 22 percent underfunded. “It doesn’t mean the city did anything wrong but it does mean the costs will be accrued and reflected in next year’s audit,” he noted. That fact alone could reduce the city’s $17.5 million net position by about $1-$2 million. Actuarially, retirement plans are reflecting a higher life expectancy to age 95, which should be taken into consideration in future planning, he added. At the end of 2014, the city had a
general fund balance of $949,729 with other governmental funds like the water, sewer and liquor fund having fund balances of $2,444,651, yielding a combined total fund balance of $3,394,380. Nordquist praised city officials for having a fund balance equivalent to about 50 percent of the city’s annual costs. The city had $24,446,456 invested in land, buildings, machinery and capital assets, while the city’s longterm debt decreased by $8,311,000 to $14,715,000 during the year. Last year, property taxes generated 36.1 percent of the city’s revenues; the rest came from water and sewer revenues, fines and forfeits, fees for services, licenses and permits. The city budgeted $338,116 for fire protection but only spent $312,762, resulting in a net balance of $25,354 in the fire account. Area townships fund nearly half of the city’s budget for fire protection. The city’s municipal liquor store continued to produce another $125,000 in annual profits for the city, as well. “All in all, I think the city is doing pretty well,” he concluded.
Old photo albums filled with memories, mysteries BY DONNA HEATH NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
There was a time when family photo albums held a place in the homes of immigrants and their children right next to the Bible. The black and white photos they held between the pages kept alive the memory of those left behind in the old country as well as those no longer with them and the new additions to the family tree. Today the generations that followed are faced with the problem of what to do with these old photo collections filled with unknown faces and places. Pine City’s Jeannie (Mrs. Buddy) Rydberg is currently struggling with that problem as she sorts through old albums that have been in her family for years. “The people in the photos aren’t identified,” she said. “I recognize some of them in my grandma and dad’s albums but they didn’t write on the back of the pictures so there is no identification on most of them.” Jeannie’s father was Bernard (Stub) Olson. He loved to take pictures and his album is filled with black and white local scenes and people and trips he and his family took around the country.
He graduated from Pine City High School in 1927 and went on to Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis where he studied to become an electrician . After graduation he bought a car and the family took a trip to the west coast. They camped all the way and he recorded their adventure with his camera. “Dad worked as an electrician on the Alaskan highway until he was drafted into the Marine Corps during WWII and was in Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped,” she said. “We thought it strange that as an avid photographer he only took one photograph. Maybe it was a scene he didn’t want to remember.” Following the war, Olson worked at the Fair Store delivering groceries out in the country. “That is where he met my mother,” Jeannie said. “She worked there too and there are many photos of other employees in his album.” Holding a picture of the delivery truck, Jeannie recalled going out on a delivery with her dad. They were driving on a country road and made a fast turn on a curve and she fell out of the open sided truck. “I was about four or five years old but I just rolled and SEE ALBUMS, PAGE 10
PHOTO PROVIDED
Jeannie Rydberg sorts through generations of old photo albums wondering what will become of them in years to come.
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