The effort to have a veterans home built in Fillmore County has been ongoing for more than three years. Committees co-chaired by Don Gildner in Preston and Bill Rohe in Spring Valley know the road ahead will be a long and challenging one, but well worth the effort. A study was completed which demonstrated the need. There are about 23,000 veterans over the age of 65 within a … [Read more...]
Buffer enforcement ordinance discussed
The Fillmore County Planning Commission met on October 26. A public hearing was held on the proposed county buffer enforcement ordinance. Duane Bakke explained the county changed its shoreland ordinance last year to match the state’s buffer law language. The ordinance being discussed this day details the county’s authority to enforce the buffer ordinance. The language in the … [Read more...]
County pleased with EQB decision
At the county board’s October 24 meeting, County Attorney Brett Corson reviewed the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) decision to table a request by Minnesota Sands to terminate the Environmental Impact Study (EIS). The EQB ruled in 2013 that MN Sands must complete an EIS before working multiple sand mine sites in Fillmore, Houston, and Winona Counties. Due to the … [Read more...]
Chatfield adopts Fillmore County mitigation plan
At an unusually brief meeting of the Chatfield City Council on October 23, the council adopted Fillmore County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan. Counselors Mike Urban and Paul Novotny were absent. Brian Burkholder explained that for about a year and a half a new revised mitigation plan has been in the development process. The hazard mitigation planning process was established under … [Read more...]
Red Ribbon Week
The Preston City Council at their October 16 meeting approved a request to hang red ribbons on light poles around the courthouse square in recognition of Red Ribbon Week, October 23-27. The request was made by Amanda Thomas and Melissa Herron from the Fillmore Central Schools. This is a drug, alcohol, and tobacco prevention campaign. The campaign includes activities to help … [Read more...]
County approves courthouse security proposal
At the October 10 county board meeting, the board unanimously moved forward with a courthouse security plan. A proposal from Marco which was one of two proposals submitted was accepted. The Courthouse Security committee, which was formed after the county was awarded a grant in the amount of $30,000 by the Safe and Secure Courthouse Advisory Panel, recommended accepting the … [Read more...]
Chatfield approves updated emergency operations plan
At the October 9 meeting of the Chatfield City Council, Dan Jaquith described the purpose of the plan. He maintained that the city’s emergency services and local government are very prepared. They will respond professionally to protect lives and property. Efforts will be made to get utilities back on line as soon as possible after a disaster. The plan is a guide for emergency … [Read more...]
County asked to approve land acquisitions
Mike Tenney, area DNR Wildlife Supervisor, and Robert McGillivray, Trust for Public Land (a non-profit conservation organization), answered questions concerning two separate requests for board approval of land acquisitions for wildlife management areas at the October 3 meeting of the county board. The first request was for the acquisition of 379 acres that straddle Preble and … [Read more...]
Preston discusses options for lowering health insurance costs
The city of Preston faces a 15% increase in health insurance costs for 2018. Only a 10% increase had initially been figured into next year’s budget. At the October 2 council meeting, City Administrator Joe Hoffman explained the reason for the unexpected increase and possible options to lower health insurance costs in the future. The city purchases health insurance through the … [Read more...]
Rural Lanesboro fiber build to begin in October
The golden shovel kick-off event with Fillmore County and AcenTek representatives was held the morning of September 22 in Lanesboro. Construction to install the necessary infrastructure to bring wireline high speed internet to the city of Whalan and sections of Carrolton and Holt Townships is expected to begin in early October. It will be completed in 2018. AcenTek will build … [Read more...]