At the September 19 council meeting, Rushford Village Clerk Mary Miner said a notice will go out to all properties in the newsletter and on billing statements, in addition to being posted on the village website. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has implemented a drought-restrictive response phase. Of six drought levels listed by the National Drought Mitigation Center, … [Read more...]
Kirsten Zoellner
Reporter
kirsten@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Kirsten has been a reporter for Fillmore County Journal since 2008. No awards to date, but her mother finds her articles riveting. She enjoys shining a light on the great people and events in the county and has aspirations to someday write a novel about them. A native of Rushford, she is a member of Root River Community Church, co-founder of Odyssey Homeschool Association, and was the founder for the Rushford-Peterson Valley Farmers' Market.
When not writing, Kirsten happily spends her time raising a family alongside Joel, her husband of 18 years. She homeschools their six children (Evin, Lauren, Logan, Ada, Kathleen, and Emelia) and does her best to ensure domestic bliss. Kirsten is an advocate for conservation and homesteading and operates Liten Dal Farm, where the family raises dairy goats, pastured poultry and hogs, alpacas, a few steers, and horses. Hobbies other than juggling include the outdoors, reading, vegetable gardening, cheesemaking, fermenting various things in Ball jars, and making everything from scratch despite the fact that it probably costs more.
Kirsten and her family proudly reside in rural Fountain on her great-great-grandfather's farm.
You can follow more about Kirsten on the family's Facebook page, Liten Dal Farm, or their blog: ourprairienest.wordpress.com.
Council Discusses Rushford Properties
The Rushford City Council has unanimously approved the purchase of the Farmers Win property downtown. Last month, the council voted 4:1 to make a new offer to purchase the site for $225,000 without contingency on environmental issues. The city will proceed with all environmental studies after the sale. Utilizing the purchase agreement originally drafted by Farmers Win, City … [Read more...]
Peterson Gets Policing Update
At the invitation of the Peterson, Minn., council, Fillmore County Sheriff John DeGeorge attended the September 13 meeting. He discussed services provided for contracted and non-contracted cities and county jail progress. The council also discussed a policing contract with DeGeorge in June 2021. Within Fillmore County, only Rushford Village, Whalan and Peterson have no city … [Read more...]
Rushford Village Pours Over Budget
At the September 5 meeting, the Rushford Village Council once again reviewed expected expenditures for 2024. Also discussed were additional projects and needs. The council needs to set the preliminary budget and levy by the end of this month. City Clerk Mary Miner noted many communities automatically set the preliminary levy at 10% higher than the previous year, even though … [Read more...]
Fountain Addresses Nuisance Complaints
Nuisance complaints continue to roll into Fountain City Hall. At the September 6 meeting, the city council discussed the ongoing complaints and how to deal with them. “It’s the same old, same old,” said City Clerk Mary Tjepkes. “Noise complaints.” Mayor Tammy Danielson wants to investigate further with the League of Minnesota Cities and determine the difference between a … [Read more...]
Rushford Revises Business Program
The Rushford Economic Development Authority (EDA) has recently reworked its Business Subsidy and Revolving Loan Program. The program has previously offered financial assistance to businesses filling empty commercial spaces. Now, funding will be available for eligible existing businesses seeking to renovate their space. The Rushford City Council discussed the program at the … [Read more...]
Offer on Rushford Farmers Win Site
Before the August 14 meeting, the Rushford, Minn., city council held a closed session to discuss the possibility of purchasing the former Farmers Win site in downtown Rushford. The company has had a lengthy back-and-forth with the city. The site remains unsold since the company’s decision to stop utilizing the downtown site and move services to the South Fork site, just south … [Read more...]
Rushford Village Cancels Bridge Hearing
At the last meeting, the Rushford Village, Minn., council set a public hearing for September 5 to discuss the possibility of demolition of the bridge on Village Road. While the village and county intended to make some repairs to the structure, they could not secure the needed property easements. At the August 15 meeting, City Clerk Mary Miner clarified that one property owner … [Read more...]
Peterson Inspections on the Way
At the August 9 meeting, the Peterson, Minn., city council announced it would begin home water connection inspections. Driven by a revision to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule two years ago, all Minnesota cities must develop lead service line inventories of every water connection in its municipality. Cities must submit this documentation by October of … [Read more...]
Fountain Puts a Stop to Speeding
Last month, following citizen complaints and years of rampant speeding on Cedar Street, the Fountain Council unanimously approved installing a four-way stop at the intersection of Cedar and Third Street, which is about halfway down the length of Cedar Street. At the time, they also discussed the extension of temporary speed bumps, making it impossible to go around and move the … [Read more...]
Rushford gets SMIF update
At the July 24 meeting, the Rushford Council heard from Southern Minnesota Initiative Fund (SMIF) representative Andi Arnold, who discussed ongoing programs, grants, loans, and investments in communities and future partnerships and programs. Rushford is just one of the cities in Fillmore County benefitting from the SMIF partnership. According to Arnold’s report, for every $1 … [Read more...]
Rushford development gets new owner
At the July 10 meeting, the city of Rushford entered into an agreement with the Realty Gift Fund, a non-profit organization accepting charitable gifts of real estate. Bluff Country LLC is the former owner of the land, which sits east of Rushford Manufacturing in the Himlie Business Park. The city and Bluff Country LLC Development had an agreement for the Planned Unit … [Read more...]
Fountain addresses resident complaints
At the July 5 meeting, the Fountain Council discussed in length a number of citizen complaints. They included both noise during the day and after the 10 p.m. noise cutoff, as well as parking and street concerns. “Some of them are kind of nit-picky,” said Councilor David Gudmundson, who’d requested the complaints be discussed. No identifying information was given during the … [Read more...]
Rushford school building to be sold
At the June 26 meeting, the Rushford City Council once again discussed the future of the former Rushford-Peterson School District facilities at 100 North Mill Street during a closed session meeting. The historic site was sold to a private party in 2019 after the district expressed no interest in developing the properties. The city did indicate an interest in assuming control … [Read more...]
Rushford Village to update website
After speaking with several design companies, Rushford Village will contract with Vision Design for an updated website and domain. The council discussed details at the June 20 meeting. The current website provider, Catalis, contacted City Clerk Mary Miner regarding a sizable price increase. According to the Miner, the company says the increase offsets revenue shortages. She … [Read more...]
